Mind Spiders

Mind Spiders

Furies

Dirtnap

“The ‘Furies’ are the ancient Greek Gods of vengeance and violence,” says Mark Ryan of the title of his latest album. “The Furies were tamed,” he continues, “but in my story, they are waking up and the ancient chaotic ways are resurfacing.” Ryan (The Marked Men, High Tension Wires, Radioactivity), alongside Peter Salisbury (Baptist Generals) on synth and Mike Throneberry (The Marked Men) on drums, lead this modernistic, machine-like and cinematic version of the story of the Furies and have churned out something furious in return; this is their most electronic album yet. Gone are any notions of Ryan’s former project the Marked Men and its style of winningly bombastic garage-pop. Since 2012’s Meltdown, Mind Spiders have been perfecting an aggressive, relentless, frenetic and melodic style of punk that is a long, dark shadow of DEVO but carries something much more sinister in its jaws as it slinks its way through the ears, illustrated by their lone, intensified cover of Grauzone’s 1980 hit, “Eisbaer.” It’s a sound for the new dark ages, emboldened by urgency and sped along by some good old fashioned panic.

Mind Spiders

Prosthesis

Dirtnap

Based in Ft. Worth, TX, Mark Ryan’s shadowy, shape-shifting “solo” band Mind Spiders launched soon after his last project, the beloved and highly influential Marked Men, went on indefinite hiatus at the beginning of 2009. On earliest recordings, Ryan played everything except drums on some tracks, but the Mind Spiders lineup has continually evolved, with its founder remaining the sole songwriter and constant member. On Prosthesis, the band’s fourth album in five years, the lineup is Ryan (Radioactivity, High Tension Wires, etc.), Daniel Fried (Bad Sports, Radioactivity, Video, High Tension Wires, etc.), Mike Throneberry (Marked Men) and Peter Salisbury (Baptist Generals / Sub Pop Records). While each Mind Spiders album has been different from the one before, Prosthesis is less of a stylistic departure from 2013’s Inhumanistic than from previous work. The album clocks in at a brief eight tracks; however, the songs run a little longer than normal, really giving the individual pieces room to breathe and grow. The first Mind Spiders album to be recorded at Ryan’s and Jeff Burke’s (Radioactivity, Marked Men) new Cool Devices studio in Ft. Worth, Prosthesis is easily their best, fullest sounding effort yet! Keyboard and guitar blend seamlessly into ominous yet catchy dark pop explorations that incorporate post-punk, bedroom pop, krautrock and tons of obscure references along the way. Plans for the band include an appearance at Dirtnap Records’ 2016 SXSW showcase, a video for the track “Cold,” and touring later in the year. By then, Ryan will be ready to record...

Mind Spiders

Mind Spiders

Dirtnap

***Received a 7.5 rating from Pitchfork. Solo pop explorations from MARK RYAN of THE MARKED MEN. Around the time Denton, TX legends Marked Men were entering into their current state of semi- hibernation, co-singer/songwriter/ guitarist Mark Ryan decided he wanted to go in a slightly different direction for his next project, with recordings handled mostly by himself, and a fluid lineup of musicians to back him live. After an extremely well received 7-inch on Dirtnap (released before the live version of the band had played a single show), MIND SPIDERS follow it up with a full length that doesn't begin to disappoint. Intelligent, highly crafted songwriting with lots of twists and turns, meticulously recorded at home with Mark himself playing most of the instruments. Live version of the band features members of BAD SPORTS, HIGH TENSION WIRES, UPTOWN BUMS, MARKED MEN, and others. Includes a download.

Mind Spiders

Inhumanistic

Dirtnap

***MIND SPIDERS are back with their 3rd album in 3 years! Featuring a streamlined lineup of MARK RYAN on vox/guitar/synth, MIKE THRONEBERRY on drums, DANIEL FRIED on bass, PETER SALISBURY on synth, Inhumanistic finds the band going in a slightly more stripped down direction than previous efforts. The album was written while messing around with different drum machines, and while there is live drumming as well, drum machines play a prominent role as well, which is partly why the record is called Inhumanistic.  The recording is very tight, direct, and almost claustrophobic. Influences for this record include Devo's Freedom Of Choice, Wall Of Voodoo and old horror movies (the song “Electric Things” is about the movie From Beyond, for example). Inhumantistic is Mind Spiders catchiest, most direct and rockin' (although they also slow it down a couple times, to great affect!) release yet! We've been cranking out Mark Ryan related releases for almost a decade now, and have no plans to slow down anytime soon!

Mind Spiders

Meltdown

Dirtnap

***Received a 7.7 rating from Pitchfork. The Second album from MARK RYAN’s (MARKED MEN, HIGH TENSION WIRES) MIND SPIDERS, and it's a Meltdown, alright. This is a very different beast from the s/t Mind Spiders LP released just 13 months ago. The most obvious difference is that while the s/t LP was recorded piecemeal, with Mark more-or-less playing all the instruments, Meltdown is the first Mind Spiders recordings to feature the full live band. And what a band it is: members of THE BAD SPORTS, High Tension Wires, Marked Men, UPTOWN BUMS, etc etc. The fact that there are two drummers (MIKE from the Marked Men and GREG from The High Tension Wires both play drums at the same time) gives alot of these songs a rhythmic complexity that sets the songs apart from a lot of other "garagey" type bands. Loosely organized like the first LP, with the more straightforward, rocking stuff on side A and the weird curveball stuff on side B, Meltdown, while remarkably cohesive, blends a lot of different elements: Great sounding guitar tones. Happy, warm organ. Mean, buzzing synth. 60's pop sensibilities. Snotty garage rockers. Dark, brooding postpunk. Weirdo sci-fi soundtrack stuff. Nods to Krautrock.