Heir apparent to the capes and catastrophe that the Count Five have come to represent were San Mateo’s the Mummies. In the quartet’s ramshackle assemblage of a few chords was all of the Bay Area’s low rent rock history. The group’s Egyptian inspired get-ups harkened back to the acid eating Count Five: a sense of showmen-ship was as important to the group as its music, which was a mélange of garage tropes and revved up surf-rock vibrato.
First releasing albums at the dawn of the ‘90s, the Mummies’ style was in stark contrast to the hair-metal that topped the charts and the Seattle thing that would briefly entrance the planet. A slew of singles and full lengths released via Estrus Records and a grip of other small run imprints made the Mummies’ discography a sought after collectors dream, but also inspired Budget Rock, a once yearly Bay Area garage festival. And while the Mummies split in ‘92, this past fall found the group reassembled for the eighth installment of that rock and roll party.
There was no lack of notable garage rock coming out of the Bay between the end of the Mummies run and the present day - Russell Quan, the group’s drummer went on to play with the Flakes and released a few records in the intervening years – but John Dwyer and his cohort have recently ratcheted up the melodic potency of the genre.
Dwyer’s been a part of countless groups over time in the Bay and on the East Coast with the most visible being the Coachwhips up until he formed the malleable ensemble dubbed Thee Oh Sees. In addition to helming his quartet, Dwyer and his SoCal partner Brian Lee Hughes run Castle Face Records.
“Having your own label is the way to go if you wanna keep an eye on things...Since we’re poor and mostly lazy, the records have to rely on their own awesomeness to get out there,” says Dwyer before mentioning a few acts on his imprint. “I love Ty Segall and the Fresh and Onlys, but there’re a lot of bands out there that we would love to do something for.”
Making his way north for school after his SoCal upbringing, Segall already had an impressive discography with a pronounced Bay Area garage influence.
“I was obsessed with the Mummies,” begins Segall. “When I was 20 Russell Quan shook my hand and told me I was a good drummer after a Traditional Fools’ show [one of the formative groups Segall performed in]. It was one of the greatest moments of my life.”
At this point, Segall is one of the youngest proponents of the expansive and all inclusive style being spread out across the nation by this grouping of new age garage foragers. Even as he’s the relative new comer, both his self-titled album and last year’s Lemons, released via Goner Records, have been met with nothing less than critical success.