Remember the Music From the Adventures of Pete & Pete? I sure do. While I like the Nickelodeon show, the music stands on its own. The mastermind behind the theme song is Mark Mulcahy. I’m sure you never heard of him (unless you searched for him specifically). Due to a missing member, they renamed Miracle Legion to Polaris for the Nick project. They can be seen playing during the opening scene of the show and they make a episode appearance with their music being an integral part of the episode. Although Miracle Legion, Polaris, and Mark Mulcahy never had a huge following, he has his share of admirers. Thom Yorke [Radiohead] dedicated a song to him during a show. R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe asked him to play with him after he had written a song for Stipe.

Miracle Legion began in the ’80s, Polaris in the 90’s, and Mark continues today. While I haven’t seen as much brilliance in his more recent material, I haven’t invested in his solo albums. All I’ve heard are 30 second clips and a few mp3s from his very own record label, Mezzotint. Rhythm section Scott Boutier and Dave McCaffrey who can be heard on Drenched are common players of Frank Black and the Catholics.

And here I am telling you to get your hand on Drenched now listed for 20 cents. It sure beats trying to get your hands on some of their other work, currently for 59.97 at the cheapest! Too bad I don’t have that one too… Having heard only later material from them (’89-’96; plus Polaris in ’99), I think Drenched and the only Polaris debut are definitely the ones to get for maximum value. These are the steals. So start with these like me, and wait ’til the price drops for the others. They’ve been out of print and are due for reissue.

And what might the record sound like? Ryan Adams has a voice similar to him (Mark precedes him by a good number of years). It’d be speculation that Adams borrowed his singing style. Maybe “indie” is a term that will get you excited. It has an alternative rock sound with less crunch than typical alternative. They’ve got a jangle pop sound, but have a listen for yourself to make your own decision.