London-based psych band Mcbaise and techno-mariachi project 1000 GUAPO dropped the single “TTM,” along with a music video today.
The song offers some light-hearted satire on the concept of bromance.
And so the release on Valentine’s Day was both timely and intentional. There is a sensual vibe to the single, but it’s not raunchy.
I think it’s more about true friendship, but my Spanish comprehension is not bueno and the duet is sung in both English and Spanish, so i’m not exactly sure what some of the lyrics mean.
Mcbaise is somewhat of the musical alter-ego of Matthieu Bessudo, the French illustrator also known as McBess. I interviewed him two years ago in London, near one of his retail shops, The Dudes, which sells his art on clothing and prints, along with vinyl from the affiliated Dirty Melody Records label. Dirty Melody is home to other psych bands such as Dead Pirates, Pâle Regard and Kamggarn. Check out my Mcbaise interview here.
1000 GUAPO previously released only three tracks, all in 2023, on Dirty Melody.
Mcbaise had been teasing the single for a few weeks on his social media channels, sharing some possibly fictitious texts between the two regarding their date to hang in London, where Mcbaise is based. GUAPO 1000 lives in Paris.
The song does have a bit of an electronic music element to it, while still staying very true to Mcbaise’s psychedelic “yacht rock” vibe.
The music video begins with 1000 GUAPO half-asleep and face down in bed and wearing a full head blackout mask, with street sounds in the background. His phone rings a very techno and synthy ring, which begins the music of this song. Mcbaise starts building on that, with keyboards and more synths, as 1000 GUAPO gets up to get ready for his date with his pal, brushing teeth, taking a shit (We get the idea but it’s not too graphic) and hitting play on his yellow Sony Sports boombox.
He’s well dressed and slaps on a black leather jacket as the funky guitar melodies and drum beats drop, then heads out onto the street checking his cell phone, his straight black bangs bouncing with each step. We see him approach from the balcony he joins Mcbaise on (and it looks like he’s brought flowers), and the two begin their duet.
1000 GUAPO opens it up with talk of looking at the moon and thinking about what he fears: I believe it’s the half wheel of cheese that the two consume, cutting at its melty goodness repeatedly in the video.
Yes, they’re cutting the cheese. IMAGE COURTESY OF MCBAISE
There’s plenty to read into this one, and I won’t go deep down that hole. The punchline in the marketing for this single was basically, What does TTM even mean? No seriously. There’s definitely some intentional ambiguity — and perhaps a joke that’s over my head, but I’m gonna take a stab here and say, for me, it might be, “Too, too much.”
“There’s a twist happening in our brain”
But I do love the song, and I’m excited about more music from one of my favorite music projects. And I love to see this artist embrace his friend’s quirky project in such a way.
EDIT: I almost left out that there is some limited vinyl available for the single in the form of a 7-inch record that can be purchased via The Dudes here.
Mcbaise is also working on his first LP since 2021’s Tubes. “TTM” is the first thing he’s released under the Mcbaise banner since then, though label-mate Muthi has recently put out two singles, “Palissades,” and “Witchcraft.” Mcbaise designed the accompanying illustrations for those projects, but I don’t want to get too deeply into that since it will be covered in an upcoming piece I’ll be publishing featuring Muthi, aka Matt Christensen.
But I will add that the Muthi project is a collaboration with Mcbaise, who provides the bass lines, keyboards and synth work, and also some production in the studio. Muthi as lead does the song writing, lead vocals and guitars. Stay tuned for that interview later this month.
Lastly, I got a text today from a very good bro, one with whom I enjoyed some decadent steaks only last week. He sent me a Spotify link to “TTM,” I’m assuming because he noticed that the song dropped today. I joked that it made him my valentine.
He knows me too well.