Gwenmars

Driving a Million (SeeThru)
by Scott Hefflon

Dude, I always thought, like, the singer’s name was Gwen Mars. With this kind of noisy spacy Britpop, that woulda been cool. Shit, Bowie called himself Ziggy Stardust for a while and we all simply nod cuz it was all groovy cats and sexy kitties back then. Or so it seems. Gwenmars is actually a little more Filter than I remember, but the shag haircuts and drug-hazed bubblegum will give them away every time.

I have a live photo of vocalist/guitarist Mike Thrasher at the Middle East wearing one of those tight, stripped Mod shirts looking totally baked, strumming away like it was fuel for the spaceship, baby.

If people are all into this Austin Powers trip, hell, maybe the time’s right to reintroduce the world to Gwenmars and Earth Eighteen, two tragically-overlooked noisy-pop/stoned-spacy bands from the mid-’90s with records on major label write-off subsidiaries who got dropped when the winds shifted slightly.
(735 Lorimer Street 4th Fl. Brooklyn, NY 11211)