Tracy and the Hindenburg Ground Crew

Margaret Dumont (Action Box)
by Lex Marburger

“There’s a place where everyone is crazy/Full of anger and laughter and dread/It’s so crowded in there/I need some air/I need to get out of my head/It’s the noisiest place in the world.” So says Tracy “Ace” Thielen, head wacko for Tracy and the Hindenburg Ground Crew. With an album cover “borrowed” from The Clash and a title stolen outright from Groucho Marx’s favorite sidekick, Margaret Dumont takes up where his last release, Ouch, left off. Big question from HGC fans, though: Is Tracy trying to be more accessible? His first four or five songs have a relatively normal feel to them (relative to the classic “We dug up your mother/Fucked her skeleton!” ranting). I once classified Tracy’s music as honest psychobilly, ’cause he’s absolutely nuts. Seems like he’s taking his Prozac though. You really have to wade through a good twenty minutes of tepid acoustic goof rock before you get to the real meat of “I Like Being Alone” and “French H20.” I even prefer the rather disturbing “Ask Your Father” (a little ditty about an abusive alcoholic father) over the lukewarm music of “Trouble,” a whole bunch of nothing-rock. If Margaret Dumont was a record rather than a CD, I’d say to scratch up side A and only listen to the B side. As it is, hit Music Skip: >> a few times. Don’t forget to bring your Insanity Appreciation Card.