Mattiel “Satis Factory” 2019. ATO Records. “Nuclear green” vinyl. Indie garage rock with plenty of clever retro nods (rockabilly, Velvet Underground, 60’s Francopop, spaghetti westerns) via Atlanta. We saw Mattiel play last night at Cactus Club here in Milwaukee (kicking off concert season – yay!). The show was enjoyable and they played a mix of songs from Satis Factory, their second album, and material from their soon-to-be released record Georgia Gothic (due to be released March 18th). I really didn’t know what to expect so I was neither surprised nor disappointed that it was just singer Mattiel Brown and guitarist Jonah Swilley with the help of pre-programmed backtracks and a drum machine, their performance backdropped by a collage of weird movie clips. Mattiel is exotically gorgeous like Siouxsie Sioux with an icy yet somehow warm voice that is a blend of Siouxsie and Nico. Jonah Swilley played some great solos and totally rocked his all-red leather gear. We struck up a long conversation with a local Mattiel superfan at the bar before the show. He was planning to see them again tonight in Chicago. We chatted a bit after the concert and his comment was he was no longer heading down for the second show: he was disappointed that they didn’t have a full band and felt that their performance was lackluster. In fairness to Mattiel, they had just driven 8 or so hours from Cleveland and the crowd turn-out at Cactus wasn’t great.

(The lighting at Cactus Club sucked so my photos, even enhanced, kinda suck too.)

Satis Factory is definitely not lackluster. It’s a really excellent mix of garage-friendly styles and Mattiel’s voice keeps the record cohesive. My top track is for sure the slinky-grooved, VU-inspired “Populonia.”  Also great are “Je Ne Me Connais Pas,” the rapid speak “Food For Thought,” the 60’s organ gone rollicking wild “Berlin Weekend” (the organ riff more than a nod to “California Sun” by The Rivieras) and the ass-shaking funky “Heck Fire.”