Some bands go on tour. Other bands really go on tour. mssv falls in the latter category. In 2025, their 69-date trip was crammed into about that many days, as the trio traveled tirelessly from state to state, from continent to continent. But maybe that kind of work ethic is to be expected when you've got the legendary Mike Watt in the ranks. Somehow, in between all that jamming econo, mssv (which also features ace guitarist Mike Baggetta and veteran drummer Stephen Hodges) found time to record their fourth LP at Chris Schlarb's BIG EGO studio in Long Beach, CA. See You Through might be my favorite mssv LP yet; it's lean and mean, scratchy and catchy, sounding at times like the Minutemen attempting a righteous cover of Neil Young's Zuma. As you might expect from a band that tours so hard, the interplay is downright telepathic, changing moods and grooves at will, locking in and wilding out.
mssv is now on its third album, the jazz-punk-funk-beat-poetry trio back for another round of difficult-to-classify anarchy. The group’s most famous member is Mike Watt, but he takes a fairly low profile, with only “Boat Song” sung in his unmistakable growl, and the bass not especially prominent. Instead, Mike Baggetta is the focal point. He wrote most of the songs and sings lead on all but one, and there’s plenty of guitar mayhem on hand. The third principal, Stephen Hodge, is best known as Tom Waits’ drummer, but there’s little of that band’s junkyard, warped Americana ethos; he churns up free-improv explosions and martial snare cadences to bolster Baggetta’s variegated compositions.
The disc starts with its most fluid entry, the title track, which follows a laid-back jazz-adjacent vibe as airy and unencumbered as The Sea and Cake. Like other songs on the album, this one cuts back to make room for Baggetta’s free-associative spoken word. The effect is post-rock crossed with 1960s beat poetry, Tortoise wearing black berets and snapping fingers. “Despair & Hilarity” is more loosely constructed out of snare drum rolls and sporadic, intersecting flurries of guitar and bass notes. Baggetta intones lyrics by frequent collaborator Steve Gigante over cavernous abstractions, spitting out surreal lines such as, “I took my dog/across your walk of fame/and I had him S-I-T/on your starry-eyed name.”
“On Its Face” swerves jazz-ward, its shimmer of late night noir sound evoking other poetically minded performance artists, Lydia Lunch in particular. It also reminds you of the Minutemen’s jazziest cuts, like “This Ain’t No Picnic” from Double Nickles on the Dime, though the flavor is more lounge than free improv here.
Like Human Reaction, which Dusted reviewed in 2023 (“ touches punk, funk, noise and jazz without fully aligning with any of them”), On and On was recorded remotely, with each member submitting their parts separately. Baggetta then edited and combined these components into the mix you hear here. However, since Human Reaction, MSSV has toured extensively. They worked out the contours of these songs live, together, in front of an audience, and as a result, On and On feels more organic and less piecemeal than its predecessor. It may be time to think of mssv not as a side project or occasional collaboration, but as a full-fledged band.
Back in the beforetimes of 2017, Knoxville guitarist Mike Baggetta teamed up with a legendary rhythm section consisting of Mike Watt & Jim Keltner and Big Ego / Psychic Temple cult leader / producer Chris Schlarb to record what would become Wall of Flowers - a dang kaleidoscope of an album. “The chemistry is palpable, the vibe is loose, and the songs are all worlds unto themselves.” says Aquarium Drunkard...but click through and see for yourself.
Keltner doesn't gig much these days, so Baggetta enlisted veteran percussionist / composer Stephen Hodges (Mavis Staples / David Lynch / etc) to tour this material, and a new band was born! The ‘post-genre’ trio now known as mssv hit the road in March of 2019 in support of ‘Wall of Flowers’ but quickly became a monster all its own.
This set splits into two seamless minisuites, each featuring a perfect mix of Baggetta originals, Watt originals and covers. The rhythm section is damn powerful, but what really blows my mind is how both Baggetta’s tone and phrasing effortlessly morph throughout.
After a live release last year, mssv’s first proper album Main Steam Stop Valve is out now...you guessed it, on Big Ego Records.
mssv
3.26.2019 @ Sleeping Village
Chicago, IL
The Pink Room [David Lynch & Angelo Badalamenti] >
Data Point >
Hospital Song >
No One Says Old Man (To The Old Man) [Mike Watt]
Dirty Smell >
Blue Velvet [Bernie Wayne & Lee Morris] >
Liberty Calls! [Mike Watt] >
Wall Of Flowers
Mike Baggetta - guitar / live processing
Stephen Hodges - drums / live processing
Mike Watt - bass / vocals
stream | download
Thunder. Broom. Let Watt help sweep out the dirt. We posted about Mike Baggetta’s solo debut, Wall of Flowers, a couple years ago. Main Steam Stop Valve continues the instrumental fun, though now under the bandname mssv and with a couple songs featuring vocals. Jim Keltner doesn’t play drums on this album, but his replacement, Stephen Hodges, has had a similarly illustrious career, working with Tom Waits, Mavis Staples, and David Lynch.
Mike Bagetta’s compositions bring to mind a whiff of Pell Mell, maybe a little Steve Gunn at times too. Listen to Old Crow...there is something enjoyably loopy, perhaps even Ventures-like, going on here.
Liner notes by Byron Coley. This is out on Big Ego Records.
Book Review: The Magic Poof by Stephen Hodges: A Wonderful Message On Friendship Valid For Any Age
Whatever you belong to, this book The Magic Poof by Stephen Hodges is going to interest the child in you. The book has been dedicated to two wives – to Ange-Marie, wife of author and to Katie by the illustrator Kyle Gentry. Excellent illustrations will keep this small book lively and sparkling which is bundled with a wonderful story of Poof. The story in a way has been dedicated by Stephen to his wife by keeping her name as that of the seven year old main character of this story. So there is seven-year old girl named Ange-Marie and there is Poof.
Poof is actually a makeover of curly hair of Ange-Marie as a big ball making it reside on top of her head. She is mostly adventurous and mischievous in some ways. The Magic Poof by Stephen Hodges is first in The Magic Poof Series. The big ball of her curly hair, Poof, is equally adventurous. As Ange-Marie walks, Poof bounces on her head, as if fitted on some kind of springs, and when she skips, it bounds. It dances when she dances as if to set a pace with her or to accompany her. Poof is always there on her head, even if Ange-Marie has cut hair. Both are able to converse with each other and that is what keeps interest alive in the story, page by page, illustration by illustration.
There is a wonderful and rich message about friendship in the story of The Magic Poof by Stephen Hodges which is valuable for any person of any age, gender and geography. Overall this book with fantastic illustrations, lovely story and wonderful message advocates itself to be a must read by one and all.
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