Family Swan contains the lyrics to ten songs by Jean Smith – the “vocal half” of the duo Mecca Normal, from Vancouver. The lyrics are lovely and often startling. Perhaps if I had heard some of Jean’s songs before, I would just relax and not try so hard to conceive of these lyrics as songs. I really want to be content with reading them on the pages of this beautiful little pink and sepia-toned chapbook with wood carvings interspersed throughout. But it’s a bizarre thing to reprint lyrics as though they were meant to be read alone, with no tunes swelling them into songs and no performance aspect to set the ambience. Stubbornly, I try to find the rhythm, and imagine simple, urgent, and powerful guitar music – maybe punk rock? I think this would be a super cool book to buy after seeing Mecca Normal in concert. (Emily Pohl-Weary)
Over 15,000 Zine Reviews & Growing!
