mssv, made of guitarist Mike Baggetta, Stephen Hodges on drums & mike watt on bass, creates music that is an unimagined hybrid of a punk power-trio, noir-tinged adventure music & a dreamy experimental rock band, though they prefer the term “post-genre.” Their latest full-length album On And On is the 3rd studio album featuring brand new songs that were written by Mike Baggetta before their 58-show 2023 US tour and performed every night, then recorded & produced by Chris Schlarb at BIG EGO Studio in Long Beach, CA immediately after, and features artwork by the great John Herndon (Tortoise, A Grape Dope, Isotope 217). The digital version of the album features these 8 separate, boundary-pushing tracks, while the limited edition vinyl features these pieces joined into 2 continuous side-long movements by 6 additional band-improvised interludes. The subject matter here, while being universally relatable, is filled with personal references, stories of his and the band’s friends & relationships, and one song Despair & Hilarity includes lyrics written by one of Baggetta’s most important musical collaborators, Steve Gigante (currently of OMFU + The Scrapers, (VIP) Ditchfork, formerly of W-S Burn, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle). Continuing to explore the seemingly endless depths of Hodges’ & watt’s musicianship & skill over the many tours & albums in mssv has grown an instantly identifiable sound from Baggetta’s songwriting for this band. But the trust that has formed between them, that comes from long-running musical partnerships, has also made it possible for mssv to explore more interesting ways to incorporate improvised music into the lives of their songs. On And On skillfully combines all of these elements into a newly evolved lens for the music of mssv, deftly displayed in this album as a high concept love letter to everyday life. There’s no telling which way the band will turn at any given moment, a proposition that becomes a promise when they break down and reassemble these songs live, with an instinct for restraint and an openness to anarchy.
I had the pleasure of catching up aGain with Mike Baggetta as mms embarks on a new tour (52 shows in a row) with a stop here in Madison on April 17th at the Gamma Ray Bar. We get into talk about the live experience. I was ready to share my thoughts after seeing them the last time they were here. There is not a lot of ways to describe the journey the trio takes you on when we all are aboard in the same room. We go head long into the new album, ‘On & On’, getting a taste of what it was like working through the songs while they were out on the last long run of live shows. We talk a 7 inch new single called ‘Even So’, on the flip side of Thousand Dollar Movies’ ‘Block Out The Sun’ on Four Fingers Records as well as working in more lyrical content. So many people would like to get a chance to go see this trio live, I say take a trip to the closest space they are going to be at – it’ll be worth the ride(s).
