John Dwyer endorsed project MERCH goes full ‘60s panel show on “According To The Doctors”

After moving to San Francisco to become a staff writer for underground music magazine Independent Musician and inspired by interviews he conducted with the likes of Spoon and Guided By Voices, Joe Medina found a bunch of musicians on Craigslist and formed MERCH.

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An ever-changing cast of members led to MERCH becoming a vehicle for Medina’s genius mix of styles and unconventional arrangements. With an album under his belt that showcased a plethora of Bay Area talent, Medina is set to release his sophomore album Amour Bohemian, a sprawling body of work covering an impressive emotional and musical range.

Midway through the record “According To The Doctors” erupts into a fanfare of brass pageantry that sits somewhere between The Partridge Family opening sequence and prime-time games show of the 1960s. This blend of old-school psych and garage rock nods the likes of Ty Segall, Charlie Moon & The Moonhearts and Oh Sees but has an overarching quality indebted to more melodic enterprises such as Alex Chilton’s work with Big Star and even Todd Rundgren in places.