Legendary garage punk band The Mummies have been convinced to reform for their first show in 15 human years. Unfortunately for most of us mere mortals, the show will take place in Valencia, Spain, on October 10.
Listen to The Mummies’ "Stronger Than Dirt," from their ’92 album, Never Been Caught, which has since been remastered:
I asked The Mummies’ singer and organist Trent Ruane via email how the band’s time machine managed to end up in Valencia in October, the state of the mummy costume situation and whether the world is sufficiently prepared for the band’s impending return.
Here’s what he had to say:
Wired.com Listening Post: You guys are going to play one show, and it’s in Spain? What’s up with that?
Trent Ruane, The Mummies: That’s simply where the time machine ends up in October. You see, since the earth is constantly spinning, where you step out is entirely dependent upon how far ahead in time you travel. It’s really complicated science (and math) stuff, and I really don’t want to bore "normals" with trying to explain it. Suffice it to say, I shudder to think where we might be playing if the show were in November.
LP: Is the world prepared for a return of The Mummies? (I guess I could take this answer from here, but feel free to elaborate.)
TR: Well, it’s always been "fight or be dammed" in our book, so we’re not really asking permission. As strangers to your timethough, we are extremely disappointed in how the future shaped up. Thefuture was supposed to be so cool, like in Blake’s 7. Man, you guystotally blew it! We really dig those new crosswalk signals that countdown how many seconds before the light turns red. But all that othercrap, like the Internet and Tivo, or cellphones… What a waste! I mean, several of the best thrift stores in the bay area are no longer around! Seriously: what the hell is going on?! You future people need to getyour priorities straight. Stewards, my ass!
LP: Are The Mummies prepared for the world? Have they ever been caught?
TR: About as much as we’ll ever be. Honestly, the Mummies gold standardwas set at a very strategic level, years ago, so it’s not going to takemuch to live up to that. Besides, when in doubt, you just play faster. (And hey, I thought we agreed you wouldn’t bring up that shopliftingincident?) In any case, we can’t wait to get back to 1989. Your worldhas no room for our cassette collections.
LP: Will the oldcostumes come out of storage, or are there to be new ones? Are youconsidering using your time machine to retrieve them in a more pristinestate?
TR: We will be using NOS costumes that are still MIB. The ones that yousee in many of the videos on your "Youtube" were seized by the CDC inthe late ’90s.
(Here are the YouTube videos of which he speaks.)
Photo: Sven-Erik Geddes
