Ric Menck
The Ballad of Ric Menck
Action Musik
It’s records such as this that render major labels useless. (Not that much help was needed in that regard.) Ric Menck, one of the most creative songwriters and performers in America’s indie scene, tossed together the original version of this record a few years ago, filling it with demos and other recordings made before his “day gig” with Velvet Crush took off. Most likely the thing sold about 11 copies world-wide, but that hasn’t stopped Menck from adding even more goodies and putting it out again. And thank heavens he has a way to do so, thanks to Parasol Records, who distribute Action Musik. This is power-pop bliss, ranging from jangly Byrds homages to a Primal Scream cover. Menck writes great, catchy songs, and while none of these songs rock as hard as Velvet Crush does (did? Who knows, anymore…), that’s perfectly OK, for they are propelled by a charming energy that fans of folks from Syd Barrett (Menck does a nifty cover of “Golden Hair” here) to Let’s Active will find to be manna from pop heaven.
Action Musik: http://www.parasol.com/labels/actionmusik/
