Mystery Skulls (Los Angeles, CA)
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNaO8pZ7c8[/embed]
These guys don't need any help with getting talked about but sometimes I really go overboard with my obsessions. This one has outlived the obsession I had with Christina and the Queens a few weeks ago. I only expressed it recently in a compulsive post somewhere else. This is perhaps the second time and last time I'll be bringing them up.
I can't be too loud about this because I'm internalizing my shame of liking these guys past the fact that their shit don't stink. But they didn't stick around Dallas long enough to let it, cause when the get'n was good, they took off. Fine. Do what you want. I'm suspicious of bands that say they're from some place only to say that they're not, later on down the line.
But you know what? That's not fair. As I've said before, every band is from somewhere. Some of them are pretty hardcore about it and others aren't. Which side should I take?
Get this though... it's not guys, it's just one dude! Years ago it thought it was at the very least, something like Chromeo where a Jew and an Arab walk into a recording studio and make magic. Right?
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdPupUIncgc[/embed]
Luis Dubuc's history in Dallas speaks for itself. This guy was the secret handshake which I remember as the act the Dallas Observer used to shit all over, back when I gave a shit about what they said. I'm guilty of that. It's my Saigon and I hate reliving it. I locked in a few years ago with the Mystery Skulls debut on bandcamp. Where he threw all of his influences right in; neo-soul and whatever else he felt like doing. How Hispanic are you Dubuc? The man knows enough Spanish for my book of top great Hispanic-Americans like Alfonso Cuaron and Luis Vasquez.
Yes, some of us are late in this shit and so in reading up on this dude I start to realize how unfair I've been. He's had his eye on the prize since the beginning and didn't bother looking up. That mall-rat sound he was accused of wrangling must have forced him to rethink things, but I think that sound helped.
It's the life experience, man. He made it through and earned the clout to work with some mainstream mall-friendly heavy-hitters.
Look. This shit is fucking awesome, why don't I just leave it there.
Want some remixes to go with your exorcists and demeantors?
Sources
1. "MYSTERY SKULLS." MYSTERY SKULLS. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://mysteryskulls.com/>.
2. Mark, Jon. "Dallas 'Kills It' In Music: Mystery Skulls - Bubblews." Bubblews. Bubblews LLC, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.bubblews.com/news/7311430-dallas-039kills-it039-in-music-mystery-skulls>.
3. Freedman, Pete. "The Secret Handshake Continues To Confuse, Buzz, Overhype the '90s."Dallas Observer. Dallas Observer, LP, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2009/02/the_secret_handshake_continues.php>.
4."Alfonso Cuarón." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/>.
5. The Soft Moon. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.thesoftmoon.com/>.
6. Freedman, Pete. "The Secret Handshake Comes to Grips With Adulthood." Dallas News and Events. Dallas News, 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://www.dallasobserver.com/2010-08-19/music/all-grown-up/>.