May McDonough & Co.’s story sounds a little like that abstract French film you saw once in college. You know there is a theme buried somewhere just out of grasp, and yet the bizarre imagery and odd characters leave you feeling a bit confused, a bit cultured, perhaps a bit enlightened, but mostly just exhausted. May McDonough is the first born child of a couple of private investigators who met on the job in the late seventies. May’s father started his own private investigations bureau, and May’s mother (who was known as Digger around the office) had just left her job taming lions, tigers, and elephants at an animal park for a more cerebral job in private investigations.
Stemming from such unique individuals as these, May was born to be a wild card. Her life is almost as intriguingly unique as her parents, if not more so. In her own words, “I seem to be a magnet for strange happenings that are so unbelievable, i just look like a fantastical liar.”
May McDonough & Co. elude to these concepts, vaguely and cryptically hinting at various disasters, deaths, bastard siblings, homeless trials, and somewhat bizarre worlds of self-exploration. However, it’s the psychedelic arrangements, equally filled with whimsy and grit that make it. Strung out with rich moods and decked with junkyard percussion, their songs instantly warp you to a specific time and place where no corner of geography goes unpainted. Whether you’re charting by foot through the Syrian Desert, or you find yourself stumbling down a back alley at midnight having just puked out a bottle of Jameson, when you listen to MM&C’s songs you know exactly where you are, exactly how you feel, and you know they wanted it that way.
Now May McDonough & Co. wail away at lead pipes, trash cans, and overturned bicycles, as May trudges through muddy chords and eases through chest-searing vocals that somehow echo of a clandestine midnight trisk between The Zombies and Jefferson Airplane in a damp junkard.
May McDonough & Co. are currently working on their sophomore album “bullyboywithaglasseye“. In the meantime you can catch one of their local shows in Los Angeles. Please be sure to stay updated on upcoming shows by taking a look at the ‘Tour’ section of the website, and please join the mailing list for exclusive opportunities below!
Instrumentation
May McDonough – vocals / guitar / piano
Lo Schmitt – drums/ percussion
Rusty Huber – trumpet / bicycle rig / percussion
Xavier Cabrera – electric and standup bass
