Who Shot Elvis? October 7, 1997

If you’re already familiar with the work of Mecca Normal, prepare to re-define your concept of what they’re all about. Punk rock, alternative rock, grrrl rock, anarchist rock, and many other definitions that have been used to describe this band in the past are now inadequate.

The first track on Who Shot Elvis? shows that David Lester is still finding new ways to create original sounds with a guitar; here, a knife is incorporated into his playing. Subsequent tracks showcase his adeptness at both beautiful acoustic rhythm and jarring lead guitar. The title track is a genuine anthem, its theme of history perceived, history lost and history found setting the lyrical stage for the rest of the album. While the first half of Who Shot Elvis? maintains the usual format of David on guitar and Jean Smith on vocals, the addition of drummer Charlie Quintana later in the album proves to be an exciting one, especially evident in the audible energy blend achieved on "The Way Of Love" (three guitars, drums, and vocals recorded live) and "OK Here We Go." The latter two songs, along with "Don’t Heal Me Like A Dog Just To Break Me Like A Horse," expose another facet of Jean, as David takes a back seat and lets Jean do the driving with her own totally unique guitar voicing.

"Step Into My Sphere" and "The Orbit," respectively, provide glimpses of humour and love seldom associated with the Mecca Normal experience, while "In Canada" closes the album with Jean’s most thunderous storytelling to date. What you can’t hear are the months of labor and frustration, the meticulous attention to detail of engineer Mark Cohen and producer Peter Jefferies. Their contributions, along with those of Duane Crone, are known only to Jean and David.

The Eagle and the Poodle April 9, 1996

The Eagle and The Poodle is a lucky-13 song album about the tenacity of love, grade school teachers, a movie set lake where a paddle-wheeler prop explodes, the relentless pursuit of a future that eradicates the present along with its subtle imperfections, a blonde religion, a smooth fingered page turner who just can’t put down the rule book, a dial-in radio show called "The Rival Theories Hotline" where you can mainline a dose of duality, a house without doors, the boxing match of the century: The Unexplored vs. The Replica of Duplication, Peach-A-Vanilla naked on the couch stroking her green ring finger, another world’s future and a box of souvenirs that crumbles to dust.

The Bird that Wouldn’t Fly 7" September 12, 1995

Colossal, stirring stuff from the powerful and prolific Vancouver duo. Personal plus the worldview, rock minus the lampshade, political without a grandstand (or even a drum riser). Either you get it or you’re just a dopey person. We can’t be holding your hand all the time. Do you want a fun and fulfilling life, or do you want to end up possessed by fear, jealousy and regret? Whatever, as if any other label worried about YOUR quality of life.

The b-side, "Breathing in the Dark," includes the talents of Peter Jefferies, the ultimate Mecca Normal fan and now, apparently, Mecca Normal’s drummer.
Jean Smith — vocals
David Lester — guitar
Peter Jefferies — drums

Sitting on Snaps Janurary 24, 1995

"Sitting On Snaps was recorded in various locations, mostly while we were on tour. We had a few days off in the middle of a tour in Europe so we wrote some songs and found a studio. We’d met up with Peter Jefferies at a festival in Holland and he’d come down to southern Germany to hang out so we had to get him to play piano on a couple of songs. We recorded four songs in Montreal for a national broadcast and we ended up using one for this record. While we were on tour in the eastern U.S., we went into a studio in Massachusetts with lyrics I’d written that morning, David came up with the guitar part while the tape rolled. We recorded some more songs in Seattle and put the whole thing together there with Calvin’s help." -- Jean Smith

Mecca Normal is leaning in the curve of a comet tail, moving just about as fast, making something you didn’t know you wanted until it strikes your soul. Mecca Normal intends to snap the honeycomb of doubt, the question stated every day, a publicly manufactured code. In a pouring down of passion there is a flight encased in gold, Mecca Normal is matching the colors with the sounds. Sick of land faith, sick of gravity, they’ll pay you what they want. There’s always trouble when you have to invent yourself, shaking off the frozen rain.

David Lester - Guitar
Jean Smith - Voice
Peter Jefferies plays piano on two tracks.
Dirk Hugsam plays acoustic guitar on one track.