Mark Robinson is the founder of Teenbeat and member of Unrest, Air Miami, and Flin Flon. He has released solo work and been in other bands as well but I am choosing to focus on those three.
I was unaware of Unrest until Perfect Teeth was released in 1993. They had released several records and singles starting in 1985 but I was completely unaware of them until their last full length album! To be honest, I can't even say that I'm a fan of the early stuff I've heard. This album remains my favorite of theirs to this day which I am told is not a popular opinion as most people seem to prefer Imperial f.f.r.r. which came right before this album. For me, Perfect Teeth is pure pop perfection. The slower songs don't drag, the atmospheric songs are kept to a minimum, and the songs are the catchiest of their career. It's difficult to pick one song from the record but who can resist this one...
Make Out Club
When Unrest disbanded in the mid-90s Mark formed Air Miami with his former band mate from Unrest, Bridget Cross. They were joined by various other members over their short career. Being a long time plane nerd I was quite pleased with the band name and their first single which is what I've posted. Most people know that Teenbeat is modeled after the legendary Factory Records, and Mark's love of the Brits is well documented. I think that the song World Cup Fever is really the icing on the cake. It's probably the song I associate them with the most and I was tempted to post it but had to go with my favorite.
Airplane Rider
This brings us to Flin Flon. I saw them play not too incredibly long ago (within the last year or so) and they were fucking amazing. I'm not sure what the status of the band is right now but if you ever get the chance to see them you must take it. They were so precise that it was frightening but it was one of the most fun times I've had at a show. The musicianship is amazing - the drums and bass are what carry this band but Mark's signature guitar playing/sound is there and his vocals are as strong as ever. I probably should have picked a different song to really illustrate how different Flin Flon is from the previous bands but I of course had to go with my favorite song. This is from their 1998 debut A-OK which also happens to be my favorite album of theirs.
Colgate
2 comments:
One time Mark played in Sacramento. He was doing his thing, solo-style and left his set list by the mic after the show. I picked it up and was totally stoked! It had notes on it, like lyrics and chords to each song. After I went home, I guess he came back looking for the set list and was kind of freaking out about it. Oops. I hope he remembered how to play Cath Carroll for his LA show the next night.
the funny thing is, the songs don't sound that complicated! i guess when you have as many songs as he does notes would be helpful. that's rad - you should frame it and put it up.
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