This whole project is a goddamn delight. Iowa City’s Samuel Locke Ward, an award-winning cartoonist, and prolific home taper joins forces with the inimitable Mike Watt (known best for being Mike Fucken Watt) for a sprawling album of pop vignettes, spoken word treachery, and downright skronkular weirdness. Real Manic Time lives up to its title as it zigzags across genre identifiers, leaving every descriptor dissolving in its wake.
But Real Manic Time is so much more than just an album. Ward and Watt put together videos for all 30 (!!) tracks. Ward also made a zine to go with the album. The whole package is like an entire world unto itself, the bubble I wish I’d be washed away in during the pandemic. I’m excited to share these exclusive scans from the zine that show off just how awesome Ward’s illustrations are:
With the video version of the album, there are so many gems in the cache of homemade visual oddities. A few favorites of mine:
Check out the YouTube playlist for all 30 videos HERE and watch every single one. It’s worth it.
From the lamentable hooks of “Something Found” to the sax-blast strangulations of “Time to Slide” and electrosluice hypnosis of “Fuck Your Guitar” to the anxiety-fueled “Blade” – not to mention the interludes like “The Shits” and “Tuna Net” – Real Manic Time is a peach. The deeper into this project I dig myself, the better it all gets. If I disappear for a while, I’m staying in this strange, wonderful world Samuel Locke Ward and Mike Watt built. Look me up.
Watt is on tour with mssv currently. Catch them if they’re in town. Dates HERE. Real Manic Time is out now on Personal Archives. Grab it immediately:
Foxy Digitalis depends on our awesome readers to keep things rolling. Pledge your support today via our Patreon.
One Comment