Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 43-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
Karl Blau / West Coast Chalice covered Mecca Normal’s “This Machine” (from Dovetail, 1992) in 2013. The very PNW line “making it anything, so it isn’t nothing now” almost defines the regional DIY scene of the ’80s and ’90s, when long rainy seasons prodded one towards doing something. Anything. To avoid the gloom of now.
I love this version, which feels very poignant to me, having lived through being a feminist in rock in an era where there was push back against women loudly voicing opinions. Suffice it to say, only rarely did men cover our songs.
Oswald Five-O covered “Blue TV,” and much more recently, the Hidden Cameras covered “Throw Silver” and Califone covered “Family Swan.”
“This Machine” from Dovetail (K, 1992) (download):
