Musical Monday (#2)

Musical Monday continues on a completely different train of thought to the first post. We go from the most powerful jazz musician in America, to a folk rock 5-piece from Michigan.

The Great Lakes Myth Society were formed in 2004, two months after the dissolution of their previous band, The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love.

The GLMS rekindle their love of Michigan first explored in TOBSOL, and build further on it, mixing influences such as Steeleye Span, David Bowie and a very clear sound of the Pogues. The songs range from being nostalgic, as with Isabella County, 1992, to fantastical, like with Big Jim Hawkins, where they retell the mythical Paul Bunyan's creation of the Great Lakes, by way of a fight with a giant Jim Hawkins.

One of the things I like most about the band are their poetic lyrics, which would stand out as worthy poetry even without their music; indeed it sometimes feels like the songs have been made to fit around poems. The way the lines scan and words fit to the music seem like strange choices if this isn't the case -- although the songs don't suffer for it.

Not having so much as ever visited Michigan the songs are full of intricate references I often need explaining -- luckily for me, Jamie introduced me to the music and she does understand the references, and so can explain things like why in Isabella County, 1992 there are references to being "drunk all the time" or what the "salt trucks" are in the song Red Jacket Miners.

The songs are strangely catchy -- even if some stand out more than others -- although I find I enjoy them more if I can concentrate, rather than just as background. It's difficult to know what song to include here, but I have chosen Isabella County, 1992, if only because it was one of their first songs I heard, and the one I have mentioned the most. Short of that, go their MySpace page and listen to the songs they have available to download. Or just buy their album and be done with it.


Great Lakes Myth Society -Isabella County, 1992.mp3