Guitar hot shot Mike Keneally and drummer/instrumental prog record label maven Scott Schorr dropped a good-time fusion/prog rock record on March 10, 2020 without warning. Exactly 10 months later, they’ve done it again.
My Mom’s Getting a Horse (from Schorr’s Lazy Bones Recordings) keeps the good times going, and the formula didn’t change from their self-titled MFTJ project because well, why does it need to? Keneally plays guitar, bass, keys, a few exotic reeds and “various noises.” Schorr pitches in drums, percussion, bass and more keys.
“What Wally Thinks” (video above) is funky with hip-hop flourishes galore. Keneally is always good for a stinger of a guitar solo and he does so here, while Schorr amplifies the funk factor by layering on the percussion. Keneally launches “I Remember When Candy Bars Were a Nickel” with a grimy guitar riff and then the subsequent piling on of instruments forms a funky syncopation remindful of Jan Hammer’s creations.
“Soft Teeth” is indeed softer, but hardly any slower; the two merely opened up the sonic space to allow ethereal tones glow through. “National Milk Day” has a groovy bass pattern going for it as Keneally uncorks some pugnacious guitar remarks all over. “Lucy Has the Grip of a Crop Duster” balances the jazz-pop pulse of a Fender Rhodes and soft synthesizer splotches with the metal might of Keneally.
Schorr’s inventive backbeats puts a swagger into “Who Grooms Your Fur?” His stomp combines with a synth bass line to put “Peeping Raccoon” well in the pocket. “Donner Party Highlights” has nice snare/kick drum action amid a cornucopia of synths and — it appears — a little bit of oboe by Keneally.
Schorr’s booming beats on “My Mom’s Getting a Horse” is fronted by the jazzy tinkling of keyboards until Keneally slide guitar lead comes roaring in.
Anxiety about the ‘rona got you down? Music doctors Mike Keneally and Scott Schorr’s got the cure. My Mom’s Getting a Horse is feel good music for the thinking man/woman. Get your prescription filled at the Bandcamp pharmacy.
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