Miracle Legion - Portrait of a Damaged Family review: final album finally sees the light

One of rock'n'roll's more interesting what-if stories concerns New England college rock act Miracle Legion and their final album, Portrait of a Damaged Family.

Released 20 years ago, just as the band’s profile was dwindling, the album all but disappeared.

Fast-forward to now, and main songwriter Mark Mulcahy has reconvened the band and re-released the album (via his own label).

It’s fair to say that 20 years ago this would have been seriously out of kilter. Now? With shades of power-pop and broad hints of early influencers (REM, Byrds), there are swathes of good music for a less-cliquish audience.

Songs such as You're my Blessing, Madison Park, Say I had a Lovely Time, and KKM fuse Peter Buck and Johnny Marr to genuinely stirring effect.

[ mezzotint.com ]