Review
Mickey Leigh’s Mutated Music
Variants of Vibe

Wicked Cool Records (2022) Christopher D

Mickey Leigh’s Mutated Music – Variants of Vibe cover artwork
Mickey Leigh’s Mutated Music – Variants of Vibe — Wicked Cool Records, 2022

Hey Mickey you're so fine, You’re so fine you blow my mind Hey Mickey, Hey Mickey.

“Do You remember lying in bed/ With the covers pulled up over your head/Radio Playing so no one can see”-Ramones

I do remember getting my first cheap transistor army green radio and picking up on a local AM station that played the oldies/ goldies. Listening to hits from the 50’s/60’s and early 70s. There didn’t seem to be a formula to it. It would jump from the Shangri-La's to The Kinks to Tommy James and the Shondells to The Animals to some hits garnished with Fromage like Billy Don’t Be A Hero. I soon graduated to getting a portable tape deck with a microphone where I would proclaim everyone in the house to be quiet as I recorded songs from the local FM station off my clock radio. Music today is accessible to everyone..anything you want to hear is at your fingertips. Now not to get all grumpy grandpa on you but the sense of discovery seems to have been taken away. The anticipation of discovering some new golden nugget. Somehow a 99 cent record can have as much admiration as a hundred-dollar platter.

Mickey Leigh is that all rolled up into one fat hand-rolled spliff puffed into billowing, savory pure, catchy, melodic hooks and crooks. Mickey is the champion for the underdog kid in his bedroom playing air guitar in his underwear doing Townsend windmills..1-2-3-4 Go! Jump, Kick, Twirl, Lip Snarl, Chuck Berry Duck Walk, Bow, Exit Stage Left.

Mickey Leigh should be no stranger to danger although he is probably best known in some circles as Joey Ramone’s brother.

Mickey has been plying his trade since the 1960s and has formed bands such as Birdland (with Lester Bangs), The RattlersSibling Rivalry(with Joey) and Stop! This current release is under his name and his first full-length release under his moniker ( previously releasing some singles on Wicked Cool in 2020).

Mickey has his feet firmly planted in the 1960’s block of rock and roll cement but he isn't sinking to the murky, boggy depths. Mickey is a seasoned rock and roll warrior fighting back with a guitar, bass, and drums in the spirit of the great era of 1960’s bands like The Who and The Kinks.

Spirited hooks, hard bashing toms, and classic running basslines encapsulate this as an instant classic. If time machines existed (according to the tik tok time traveler … they do!) and this came out in 1976 it would most likely be heard around the world as a power-pop powerhouse

PS: Mickey-” I don't want to hear nobodies mother fucking shit either”

Mickey Leigh’s Mutated Music – Variants of Vibe cover artwork
Mickey Leigh’s Mutated Music – Variants of Vibe — Wicked Cool Records, 2022

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