When you set out on the path of an artist–whatever your medium of choice–you’re going to do your fair share of falling down, getting up, dusting yourself off and starting anew. It’s a fact. Austin trio Mirror Travel know that all too well. They’ve had some ups and downs. They had to start again from scratch, but now they’re back and better than ever.
The band wasn’t always Mirror Travel. You may remember them as Follow That Bird. They supported Bill Callahan on tour, and opened for Trail of Dead. Matador Records included them in their 2010 Austin-and-Denton-only, garage-punk comp Casual Victim Pile (AND the label picked their tune “The Ghosts That Wake You” the lead single from the record). Things were on the up, when Follow That Bird’s label went belly-up, robbing the band of the funds for their full-length debut.
But that wasn’t the end of their story. The band regrouped and renamed themselves Mirror Travel. They also headed out to Marfa to do a little recording. With Mexico (out October 15 via local label Modern Outsider) they finally get the debut they deserve. Fans of Follow that Bird’ll probably recognize some of the tunes on the record, but they get new life on this disc. The title track smolders with post-punk aggression, but there’s also something narcotic about it. “Mexico” is a song that you can fall into and lose yourself. Which in a way, tells the story of Mirror Travel. They had to lose themselves to find who they were once again.
