ALBUM PROFILES



Jay Mazeffect - "horseshoes revisited"


There once was this local rock band* named Mazeffect. After years of putting out albums with better songs than recording quality, they finally went to a quality studio and recorded the amazing album, “horseshoes & hand grenades”**. The only problem was that just as they were getting ready to release the album they disbanded***. The album was still released , but without playing any shows to support it, it failed to get the attention it was due.

It’s now four years later and Mazeffect’s former front man Jay Mazeffect**** has gone back and re-recorded the album, with the twist being all the songs are recorded live to tape, solo acoustic, with no overdubs or edits. As Jay puts it, “ The mark of a great song is that it can be played in any manner and still be a great song.” I agree, and that is why “horseshoes revisited” is not some lame “unplugged special”, it’s re-imagining great songs by stripping them back to basics.

Download “horseshoes revisited” for free here.

* - I’d call them a punk band, but they hated being limited by that title.
** - If you can still find the album, you should definitely buy it.
*** - 2/3s of Mazeffect would go on to become 2/3s of The Break Evens, a band you should also check out.
**** - Full disclosure, Jay Mazeffect, writes for this site, but that had no bearing on this review.

- Lazlo







Revisiting “Horseshoes And Hand Grenades”.

Mazeffect (my band previous to The Break Evens), before imploding, had recorded a record I was finally proud of. No excuses or apologies. It was the summation of a few years of work, and a lot of years of trying to become a better songwriter. But let me digress…

I write a lot of songs. Most of which are craptacular. Plenty of throwaways, half-baked ideas, lyrically juvenile, blah blah blah…. With Horseshoes, it was my personal goal to compose some damn good songs, and for once focus on writing lyrics that were a step above and beyond anything that I did before. I wanted to pen a few words I could be proud of enough to show to people, and to Robert Pollard (not that this event would ever happen, but I wanted to reach a certain standard that in my mind he would nod approvingly of). On top of that, I wanted to put together lyrics that people could dig into, give them something to ponder, and maybe obscure the personal meaning of it enough to where people can apply whatever it is I was singing about to whatever it is they are thinking about. Or feeling. Or what have you. Make it more universal, you know?

I felt like I had accomplished that with Horseshoes. But then that tried and true story of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory befell Mazeffect. A month before the label released the record, the band imploded. Creative differences, to extremely over-simplify it. So this great record sank without a trace. A lost artifact. The few that have heard it, really loved it (or so they tell me, and they know I can take criticism). It still to this day burns my ass that it walked softly into that goodnight, instead of burning the house down to light the way.

So here’s my chance to bring those tunes back. The mark of a great song is that it can be played in any manner and still be a great song. I hope to prove that the songs from Horseshoes And Hand Grenades were just that. Great. Even though the tunes won’t be played with a wall of sound, and only a solo voice and an acoustic guitar, I believe the quality will shine through.

Thanks for listening,
Jay Mazeffect

*"When You Were You" was originally written and performed by Holy Rollers (NJ), as was "Some Of Shelly's Blues" by Mike Nesmith. Everything else: lyrics by Jay, music by Mazeffect. Extra special thanks to Mel for coming up with the really cool guitar parts on the original album. Artwork by Sarah B. This album was recorded live to two-track, no overdubs or edits. What you hear is exactly what was played, for better or worse. The great thing about music is it can be interpreted differently from day to day. This is how I felt like playing these songs on May 3rd, 2011. Please enjoy. © 2011