Medicine Men started out as a duo consisting of Ian MacKinnon (vocals/guitars) and Michael McGeough (keyboards) with debut album Into The Light being released in 2017. It was well received, certainly around the Glasgow area, with one reviewer excitedly declaring, ‘The musical diversity on this record is insane; in the grooves you can hear The Charlatans, the vocals scream Paul Weller and the instrumentation oozes the beautiful vibes of Tame Impala.
But in a crowded market, they didn’t penetrate much beyond a loyal fan base, which is probably why I never heard of them until four years later when I was handed a copy of the 2020 album A Different Port as part of my initial LNFG membership. It was one of a substantial number of records from acts that I knew nothing about, so there was a lot of catching up to do, as well as trying also to keep abreast of what was happening elsewhere which is probably why I never got round to mentioning them before now.
By 2020, the band was a four piece with Marc MacCallum (bass) and Stephen Forbes (drums) completing the line-up. The result was a solid, if unspectacular LP, which kind of defied description, as the songs demonstrated a range of influences – some relying on electronica/keyboards influences while others had guitar work that wouldn’t have been out of place on the sort of indie-rock compilations that sold in significant numbers back in the 90s.
mp3: Medicine Men – Back On Board
There’s been nothing since, which is perhaps an indication that this was another band whose progress was brought to an end by the onset of the restrictions placed on everyone with the onset of the COVID pandemic.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 