After a 23-year hiatus, Chapel Hill's Mayflies USA are back with a brand new record called "Kickless Kids."
The band formed in 1996, an interesting era for music in Chapel Hill according to bassist and singer Matt Price.
“It was the afterglow of that larger Superchunk/Archers of Loaf/Polvo moment, all angular dissonant guitars, but we were playing unstylish music," Price said. "Nobody else was writing harmonies. We were out of step, and I guess we haven’t ever gotten in step.”
Even if the band was out of step at the time, they gained a loyal following and released three full-length LPs on the Hillsborough-based Yep Roc Records before going on hiatus in 2003.
In the time between the new record and their last, of the band have become published authors, worked for Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, and toured with Chris Stamey and his Big Star tribute project.
The reunion was sparked by a scary situation with band member Matt Long. In 2022, Long was struck with a mysterious illness that prompted the band to reconnect after doctors were unsure how the situation would play out. Once he recovered and with a new lease on life, Long told the other Mayflies that he wanted to get the band back together and record some new music.
"Kickless Kids" is the band's fourth album with Yep Roc. Matt McMichaels and Adam Price recently stopped by the WUNC studios to talk with Music Reporter Brian Burns about the new record.
This is an excerpt of an edited transcript of that conversation. You can hear the full interview by clicking the LISTEN button at the top of this post.
"Kickless Kids" is your first record since 2003 and you come out the gate swinging with "Thought The Rain Was Gone." When was that song written?
Matt McMichaels: That was toward the end of the process for this record. We usually have to practice the day before and the day of a show because Matt Long lives in Brooklyn. He flew down, and we got that one together really quickly, and we actually played it at Cat's Cradle that night.
Adam Price: I think art can come together in lots of different ways, but there definitely is a thing sometimes when it just clicks right out of the gate, and that one definitely did.
Another highlight from the record is "Railway Spine." Tell us about that one.
McMichaels: Well, it has a capo. We had some hard and fast rules back in our more punk rock/Replacements days. No capos, no switching instruments, that kind of thing. I was actually listening to "Little Red Corvette," and in all honesty, I sort of lifted those chords.
What made you warm up to the capo?
McMichaels: I think it was just being alive so long and realizing there's only so much you can do. Learning to embrace the capo kind of came along with things like learning to get some sleep at night and not get too well into your cups before you play.
Price: Also, just how useful it is. It was a pretty ridiculous rule, and we all got over it thankfully.
