You couldn’t say that Mark Mulachy, the brain behind Miracle Legion is one of the luckier men in music. Didn’t look that way back in the mid-Eighties when he started out. When the initial “Backyard” EP came out in 1984, Miracle Legion became a college hit and Mulachy was proclaimed a new child prodigy (until Connor Oberst came along). But then, it seemed that the first album proper “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise” fell flat on everybody except the loyal few. Quite an unfortunate thing, since it actually did deliver on the promise. For some reason, Legion was proclaimed to be REM copyists, particularly in the US (they were much more kind to the band on the other side the Atlantic), although, personally, the comparison is stretched. In hindsight, eighty percent of the indie bands at that time were claimed to be akin to REM but were not treated so unkindly like Miracle Legion.
Four albums later, the quartet ended up being a duo, lead guitarist Ray Neal being the only member that remained, and the music kept on developing. As the Nineties started winding down, Mulachy went solo, got even better, did actually become a critics darling after all, but something that you could call a success never came about.That, though, did not deter the true and faithful, turning the band into some kind of indie legend (that being a stretch too). So here they are back again. Actually, to emulate the title of their best (second) album, it is Me(
That, though, did not deter the true and faithful, turning the band into some kind of indie legend (that being a stretch too). So here they are back again. Actually, to emulate the title of their best (second) album, it is Me(Mulachy) and Mr. Ray (Neal) and a new rhythm section. It seems they decided to start from scratch, recording most of the old material, or shall we say “favorites” from before, live. Guess that is where the title “Annulment” comes from.
Collecting recordings on the stretch from “somewhere in Iowa” to Brooklyn, one of the things Legion do is dispel another (wrong) notion about them that they are a bit of a “twee” band. The playing is good, sturdy and has that live kick. But as any live recording, it has those rough edges here and there, but that is what live rock music is supposed to be. In the end, all this material will be quite familiar to die-hard fans and they’ll grab this one straight away. But I’m not sure whether this live set will win Miracle Legion any new fans. Probably not. I think we’ll have to wait for the new material to see whether that will happen.
