We conclude this week of albums I own even though I only like one song with what might be the most controversial entry of the bunch. Heatmiser was a Portland-based rock band whose members included Neil Gust, Jason Hornick, and Elliott Smith. Yes, THAT Elliott Smith. Although he wrote and recorded with the group for about four years, he never really recalled that era fondly. In fact, he thought the group’s songs were too loud and his vocal performances poor. Not just poor, but embarrassing. You don’t have to search far and wide to find quotes made by Smith about Heatmiser and how uncomfortable he felt recording and performing as a member of the group. Basically he didn’t relate to the people in the band or the people who came to the band’s shows, and he thought of it as music wholly removed from what he enjoyed creating. This, above all else, I think justifies the fact that I don’t really like Heatmiser very much. If I say, “Heatmiser sucked!” and someone responds, “But those are Elliott Smith songs!” I can just respond with, “Yeah but even he didn’t like them!”
Of course, to know and be obsessed with Elliott Smith is to know every song he ever wrote, and possess most of them in the form of live performances spanning his career. Some of those songs he played solo were rare or hard to find b-sides, non-album tracks, songs that never even made it past demo stages…and a couple Heatmiser songs. Most notably “Plainclothes Man,” which he performed live by himself quite often and yet to the best of my knowledge (which when it comes to Elliott could be considered unhealthily vast) that song only ever appeared on Mic City Sons. Are you starting to see why the album is a part of my collection?
Now, a lot of Elliott Smith fans who CAN’T separate the man from his musical output LOVE Heatmiser. And they’ll tell you that the songs he wrote on those albums are just as good as anything else he’s written. But…and again I say this as an Elliott Smith obsessive…they’re really not. There’s “Plainclothes Man” and then there’s every other song he wrote with Heatmiser. The only other song that comes close here is “See You Later,” and it’s not nearly as good as the other song. It’s probably the most Elliott Smith sounding song Heatmiser recorded, and by extension Mic City Sons is the most Smith-sounding record they produced so I guess that’s also why I don’t mind owning it even though I only listen to one song. As with most original pressings of Elliott’s records (and related projects) for years Mic City Sons was a difficult record to find. I was lucky that a VG+/VG+ copy found its way into my hands here in Los Angeles on February 16th, 2010 for the insane price of $2.99 — I guess being in the right place at the right time rewards all collector scum at some point or another.
Looking back on Elliott’s songwriting history I’m slightly disturbed by the fact that there was a time I taught myself to play every studio album track and most non-album tracks on guitar. Guess how many chicks that little party trick impressed.
None.
Heatmiser
Mic City Sons
(Cavity Search ?– CSR 35, 1996)
A1. Get Lucky
A2. Plainclothes Man [MP3]
A3. Low-Flying Jets
A4. Rest My Head Against The Wall
A5. The Fix Is In
A6. Eagle Eye
B1. Cruel Reminder
B2. You Gotta Move
B3. Pop In G
B4. Blue Highway
B5. See You Later
B6. Half Right
