The Macks hit like a truck going warp speed on Bonanza and leave a ragged, rock and roll windstorm in their wake, a full-throttle crash of intent and abandon that proves their chaos has never been sharper.
Portland’s chaos merchants the Macks have never cared about playing it safe, but on Bonanza they do more than just break the rules, they chuck them out the window of an out-of-control semi. Announced only in early September and already crashing into ears everywhere, Bonanza is the band’s vision sharpened to a point. Rock should be intentional, but it should still feel like it might blow up in your face at any moment.
A “bonanza” usually means sudden fortune, a gold rush, a payout. The Macks’ version offers none of that. Since forming in 2015, with sibling rhythm section Josef and Ben Windheim on drums and guitar, Sam Fulwiler out front on vocals, Jacob Michael Perris weaving keyboard oddities, and Aidan Harrison grounding the whole thing on bass, the band has built a slow-burn cult following one sweat-drenched show at a time. The new album is their tribute to that growing congregation. A record made not necessarily for the masses, but for the diehards who already know the password.
Bonanza is a collage of contradictions. It’s focused yet scattered, vicious but tender, messy and deliberate. It’s a flavor of miscellaneous rock that only the Macks could bottle. Wild, restless, and bull-headedly sincere. First-timers will find themselves shoved into the deep end of a world built on honesty, heart-on-sleeve songwriting, and no fear of letting the imperfections show. It's good fortune, sure, but emotional, communal, not financial. Expect to feel enriched, not get rich.
Across its hard-hitting 11 songs, the record swings from existential burnout to suburban ennui, tackling themes the band once had to move away from just to be able to confront head-on. The end result is the Macks in their rawest, least diluted form. “We had a very strong vision for Bonanza,” says guitarist Ben Windheim. After the maximalist sprawl of The Macks Are A Knife, the band streamlined everything by pre-producing the record, locking in the songs before hitting a single chord. “It’s not a concept album, but loosely it’s an ‘I am’ statement. It’s soft, heavy, catchy, heady, fun, devastating, cocky, vulnerable. It’s all about contrast and our lives, which comes with the entire range of emotions.”