Lone star garage

>> The Mullens pack rawk and good ol' Texas pride

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Upon close inspection, the line between Texans and the Québécois is a blurred one indeed. The "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan pretty much describes the intense pride Texan's have for themselves, and a fringe group has been trying to secede from the rest of the good ol' U.S. of A. Sound familiar?

"There's a group here called The Republic of Texas who believe that when Texas was annexed from Mexico in 1838, it was done illegally," explains Mullens lead singer and hardcore Texan Tim Stile. "They seemed really serious until they got busted for issuing bogus money. I guess they are pretty much looked upon as kooks ."

I explained to Mr. Stile that we call our "kooks" politicians and told him that Montreal and Texas share a love for ass-blistering garage rock. "Texas has always been known for having great garage bands, ever since the '60s," says Tim. "Great stuff like the Moving Sidewalks (featuring ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons). Even now we have amazing bands like the Motards, the Sons of Hercules, Sugar Shack and the Boozers. If a band is really barnstorming Texans will just go crazy, even if it's 110 degrees in a cramped little bar. Texans like to have fun at shows and I think that's rare in other places."

In fine Texas tradition, the Mullens are out to rawk and have a good time and haven't forgot to pack their Texas pride on the eve of their tour. "When I moved here from Oklahoma I just immersed myself in Texas garage bands, from the '60s on up, and now it seems like a lot of people are getting into Texas bands. I'm packing up some records to bring on tour because we're DJing at a radio station in New York, playing nothing but Texas bands."

Thanks to bands like Nashville Pussy and the Hellacopters, rock 'n' roll is once again on the lips of every A&R record company man in the country. But are the post-grunge masses really ready for rock 'n' roll again? And what about the major labels who insist on spit-and-shining rock's dirtier acts? The Mullens say they have their number. "It's obvious that a lot of people are getting into garage punk now and that major labels are going to start sniffing around," says Tim. "But if it becomes really big, it won't be the garage punk we're listening to now. It will be some sort of watered-down version of garage that will just have elements of garage in it. Anything that is cool always gets run over by college students and that always tends to wreck things."

With Smash Up Derby at Cafe Campus next Thursday April 23, 8pm, $5