(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Timbuk 3 was the project of Texan Pat MacDonald, assisted at most by his wife. Using overdubs and drum machines, the MacDonalds produced their 1986 hit, The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades, in a style that was both a continuation of the politicized folk singers of the 1960s and a “Southern” version of Elvis Costello’s sarcasm.
The only problem with Greetings From Timbuk 3 (IRS, 1986) is that the sound often seems like a Dire Straits clone, in other words, a second-degree clone of Bob Dylan’s country-rock period. Graceful songs like Life Is Hard and Friction play on the contrast between light melodies and cynical, bitter lyrics. The folk ballad Just Another Movie is the only one to fully adhere to the melodramatic conventions of the genre. However, the rap-reggae of Hairstyles And Attitudes, the rag of Cheap Black & White, and the Latin soul of Shame On You demonstrate a wide palette of inspirations.
The title track, Welcome To The Human Race, and the other bleak sermons of Eden Alley (IRS, 1988) are a natural continuation of this approach, while the third album, Edge Of Alliance (IRS, 1989), finally improves the recording quality and establishes MacDonald as a chronicler of the moral and material miseries of contemporary America. From National Holiday to Standard White Jesus, the new anthem, each song functions as a mini-reportage (best and most pessimistic: Dirty Dirty Rice), without sacrificing melody.
Big Shot In The Dark (IRS, 1991), recorded with a fairly impressive band, does not abandon either its sharp social satire (particularly targeting yuppie materialism) or its broad musical appeal (rap and funky Two Medicines, pop Sunshine, rhythm and blues Little Things).
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
After a long hiatus, the band (because it was now a full-fledged band) returned
with the single Looks Like Dark To Me (1994) and the album
A Hundred Love Letters (High Street, 1995).
MacDonald 's intention may be serious, but most songs show an artist with little
or no inspiration who is desperately trying to become famous, either by
playing tradiotional Texas fare (Not Yet Gone) or by trying something
danceable and sexy (Just Wanna Funk With Your Mind) or by pretending
to be intrigued by ethnic sounds (Kitchen Fire ) or by exploiting
the secure stereotype of the rural folk (Prey).
MacDonald's cynical wit has been replaced by no less cynical opportunism.
Pat MacDonald dispenses completely with sardonic humour for his first solo
album, Sleeps With His Guitar (Ark21, 1997), a quiet, domestic collection
of simple ballads like Missing and the appropriately titled
Stupid Simple Song.
