September 11 2024

This one's a real trip. Taking their name from the once mysterious Marfa Lights, a so-called
phenomenon once believed to be some kind of extraterrestrial astral projection manifested as floating
balls of fire over the rural Texas landscape, a mysterious band of space cadets hovers over the area in a UFO delivering musical messages they have gleaned from the earthly inhabitants below. For their earthly debut, the aliens chose human names- Brian, Daniel, Shawn and Mark.

The content is a jumble of styles and genres, but it doesn't really sound otherworldly. It's more of a laid-back country-folk vibe, like the Byrds sampling everything that comes across on the radio on a languid, cross-border trip from Colorado to Texas to Mexico.
The aliens set the tone with the description of the vehicle their earthly Gen X protagonist will be using:
a 1970 Ford Ranchero Squire, fire engine red,wood panel, with an 8 track cassette sound system, and a 351 Cleveland V-8 power plant, “one bitchin' ride.” The spoken word description segues into “Heart Like a Bruise,” a Tex-Mex offering that reeks of Doug Sahm's The Sir Douglas Quintet with a bevy of
Mariachi horns tossed in for good measure as the space cadets lay out their travel plans: “Miles to go and no reasons why/ Nothing to leave but the sweetest goodbyes.”

The aliens must have cruised over Brazil at some point picking up a Bossa nova beat for “The Wolf.”
“8 Track Cadillac” sounds like Steve Forbert with some mariachi horns and a swirly dreamscape background. The instrumental “Fiesta De Mescal” sounds like the boys crossed the border on the Day of the Dead, a sinister organ figure the only commentary, like the soundtrack from a vintage Vincent Price horror movie. “Cumbia Magdalena” sounds like the group got heavily into the spirit(s) of the Fiesta De Mescal, the vocals blurry as the melody staggers by concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other to
continue the journey.

The original Marfa Lights were debunked as nothing more than reflections of headlights of cars
passing on nearby highways, a superior mirage causing distant objects to appear to hover in mid air. Like
its namesake, this one is a mirage as well, a shimmering reflection of earthly emotions projected on a
cosmic screen to marvel and entertain.

Grant Britt (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) has been writing about music since the earth cooled a while back. A staff writer for No Depression, his work also appears in BluesMusic Mag and the Greensboro News and Record. 

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