The band at work....

Like the Urinals and Minutemen before them, Mika Miko are miniaturists, crafting compact one- to two-minute bursts of punkness as concise as a haiku but which offer a door into Proustian contemplation. An entire volume could be written about “Turkey Sandwich,” the better-be classic from We Be Xuxa, Mika Miko’s new 12-song full-length. The gem starts with roughly the same riff as the Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks,” but abruptly moves down the guitar neck where the Scotsmen moved up, getting low as singer Jenna Thornhill declares to either a preacher or a teacher (we think, she’s an expert mumble-screamer, inspiring many code-cracking listens) in no uncertain terms, “I’m gonna be someone, preacher (?),” repeating it, then declaring either “I’m one turkey sandwich” or “I want a turkey sandwich.” Which reading you give the line dictates vastly different translations of the song. Is she declaring said foodthing to be the ultimate Socratic ideal? Is her goal to be the turkey sandwich of her domain? Or is it that her desire to be “someone” dictates a craving for turkey sandwiches (as fuel? as a display of hearty appetite? as argument against vegetarianism?)? What we do know is that after volunteering that she either wants or is a turkey sandwich, the preacher/teacher — co-vocalist Jennifer Clavin, in deep man-voice — responds: “Jenna, I’ll miss you when you go/but don’t think I don’t know/We’ll go in different directions/yeah, I listened to them.” What does the preacher/teacher know? Who is the “them,” and what did they say? (Was it a recipe?) There follows an itsy hook, a tiny fuzz-guitar curlicue, then Jenna starts chanting something that even after dozens of listens is absolutely impenetrable. It’s a great “Louie Louie” labyrinth of a song, one that could be about a conversation at a deli or in a confessional booth, or the hope of a better future. The song’s so great they included two versions of it, the second being “Turkey Barnyard Mix.” It’s four seconds longer, contains awesome washboard beat, and features a dude in the left channel chanting, “Turkey sandwich.” (Note: We got an advance of We Be Xuxa. For all we know the full-art version comes with a lyric sheet that clarifies all this — but we hope not.) (LA Weekly, May 6 2009)