Photo credit: Gerardo Landa
Once upon a time there was an aging rocker who found himself burned out on decades of giving his all to music only to come out jaded from the industry, so he retreated to the rugged terrain of Oaxaca, Mexico. Dan Stuart is best known as the wild-eyed lead singer of cult favorites Green On Red, the desert cow punks who at one time featured none other than Chuck Prophet, and for his work as Danny & Dusty with Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn. But in 2010 Stuart’s brain broke and he escaped the concrete jungle of NYC for the mountains of Mexico.
Perhaps Dan Stuart’s goal was to get away from music and take a break from it all, but it didn’t quite go that way. He wrote an album called The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings and a “false” memoir of the same name. You know, low key stuff. Then one day, “in a mescal and weed haze and looking for co-conspirators, he came across a Twin Tones video online and sent them a kite”. Stuart had caught the rock and roll bug again and decided to pack his bags up and head to Mexico City to make an album with the Twin Tones, a young instrumental band with a love for Spaghetti Westerns, surf guitar, and Freddy Fender. The result is Marlowe’s Revenge, which comes out February 6 on Portland, OR label Fluff & Gravy Records.
Marlowe’s Revenge is loaded with shakers and twangy guitars to compliment Stuart’s infectious, at time oddball lyrics, and his voice sounds strong than ever. We’re excited to premiere of the album’s standout tracks, “Last Blue Day”, right here on Glide Magazine. The tune is hypnotic and dreamy, think mellower Ween songs meet Yo La Tengo with a bit of Mexican flavor.
Explaining the inspiration behind the song, Dan Stuart says, “Before I moved to Mexico City, I was lucky enough to live in Oaxaca for a few years. I had a casita way above town and ‘Last Blue Day’ describes a typical day and the curative powers of that special place. I still miss those cats who kept the mice and big black scorpions away, my library I gave to a kid with a cool bookstore, [and] the noose [that] might still be there waiting patiently for the next tenant. “
At the moment Stuart is still holed up in Mexico City, working on a second novel and planning out some live dates both solo and with his new friends the Twin Tones. In the meantime, give a listen to our exclusive premiere of “Last Blue Day”:
Marlowe’s Revenge comes out February 6 on Fluff & Gravy Records. For more info and music check out marlowebillings.com.
