The influential psych-punk outfit Television Personalities worked up a full head of innovative steam with this 1981 LP, which simultaneously encompasses trippy double-tracked vocals, primordial power chords, krautrock synths, nonsensical lyrics ("She wants to live in a mansion/She wants to kiss Charles Manson"), and intentionally laconic guitar passages. The title track is one of a handful of lo-fi Syd Barrett homages, while opener "Adventure Playground" teases listeners with a uniquely palpable bit of proto-punk grit. "Brian's Magic Car" is most giddily symbolic of their willful weirdness, sounding a bit like mid-period Pavement if they were playing at a circus sideshow. MUMMY is most certainly a nascent stage for the Personalities, but its influence on more polished New Wave acts to come is undeniable.
