Emmett Kelly is a noted Bonnie “Prince” Billy collaborator and a musician that I sure as shit should be familiar with, but am sad to say that I am not quite that. Instead, I’m a dumb idiot sitting at a bar on my tenth run-through of Mixtape No. 1 on a Walkman, a collection that isn’t even listed on this Wikipedia page that I am definitely not looking at right now for research… TMI? Oof, maybe. I’ll tell you what though, you don’t need a lot of information about Emmett Kelly to enjoy a band like The Cairo Gang, or indeed this simple eight-song tape that comprises a companion release to The Cairo Gang’s recent full-length, Tiny Rebels. It comes on a tape wrapped in simple cardboard packaging with simple track-info simply printed in simple black ink, block type-face. And I simply love these songs. All said and done, there are one of two types of tunes here: Jangly pop numbers that recall the Byrds as much as they do your (read: my) favorite Guided By Voices moments, or heart-wrenching ballads plucked out with pensive poise. Both items that could be run-of-the-mill, but instead avoid such slander by having stuff like sincerity, honest analog production, those attributes that so often save something great from being just plain old “good.” Pounded out with a shy sort of confidence, any kind of musicianship-flair is saved for those key moments, like in an extended coda of “An Angel, A Wizard” where you’ll hear that lead guitar letting go just enough to make your eyes clench a little tighter and bring that track home. Songs have an inherently catchy geometry that’ll hook the tip of your nose and keep your forehead bobbing: Up and down. Up and down. “Don’t tell me that you’re sorry.” “Don’t lead me down a tunnel.” Sorry, I’m just typing lyrics now, and I’ll keep doing that unless I stop altogether and just tell you to pop this tape in the deck of your convertible, put’er into 5th, head West and be done with it. We all finished here?
[Visit full site to view media]The Cairo Gang Mixtape #1 by The Cairo Gang