By Nate Mays

Billy Mack Collector is a unique and awesomely weird folk outfit from Stroudsburg, PA.   They just released a new album, titled “It’s Okay to Carrot” that you can listen to or download on bandcamp (www.billymackcollector.bandcamp.com).  I hadn’t heard of these guys until just recently and it was definitely a “relevant discovery” for me.  After listening to the newest release all the way through, I found myself going back and listening to nearly everything they have on their page.  What I found was that they have named several of their albums after vegatables of some kind and they’re all pretty good!  I would highly recommend checking this album out right away if you’re into any folk or folk-punk.

The first line of the first song, “Until This All Blows Over”, is “I know that I’ve been gone for a while, but tell me who’s that guy selling acid in my bedroom and tell me why’s his friend bringing home a shotgun on this lazy sunny afternoon.”  Needless to say I was instantly sucked in and needed to know what happened next.  As I do with most music, I found myself wondering if the lyrics were based on reality.  I think that in the case of this album most of them probably are, but it didn’t matter because they felt real to me, the listener.

Billy Mack Collector definitely has plenty of over the top lyrics that I was personally into; but that wasn’t the only thing that made “It’s Okay To Carrot” interesting to me.  I also loved the way they used a variety of horns, harmonicas, violins, and harmonized vocals to emphasize the already pretty solid acoustic tunes.   Most of the tracks have an upbeat/happy sound to them regardless of what’s being sang about.  A couple exceptions to that are “Mouse In A Cupboard” and one of my favorites on the album, “Where Am I Gonna Sleep In Texas?”.

There is a healthy number of silly songs that seem to just be his perspective on day to day events.  For example, “Microwave Burrito!” is about hanging out at Whole Foods trying to eat a half frozen burrito because the microwave in the cafe was broken.  This is one of many that gave me a good laugh.  Another one, that I thought was really great, was “Have A Nice Day And Stay Alert!” It basically explains a short story where some stranger comes up and starts promoting carrying a gun and then quotes the song title and walks off.

I’ve listened to “It’s Okay to Carrot” several times now, not because I had to in order to write this review, but because I really enjoy it.  My favorite tracks on the album are “Until This All Blows Over”, “Where Am I Gonna Sleep In Texas”, and the title track which comes near the end.  Hopefully you like Billy Mack Collector’s new album as much as I did, but either way it’s definitely worth checking out at www.billymackcollector.bandcamp.com.