PHOTOS: Gary Wilson & Part Time @ 529 - ATL

Gary Wilson, an underground icon of experimental music, doesn’t tour very often, so when the chance arises to go see his weirdo pop act live, you take it. Making this run of shows even better is that Wilson is on the road with Part Time, the decade long psych pop project of David Loca. The two rolled through Atlanta together on Tuesday at 529 for a perfect summer show in East Atlanta Village.

Gary Wilson is most known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me, though he never achieved commercial success before disappearing from the scene completely after a 1981 tour and a few singles and EPs. That didn’t stop his legend from growing over the next few decades. Perhaps it was Beck in 1996 citing Wilson as an influence and name dropping him on “Where It’s At” that sparked Wilson’s eventual resurrection into the spotlight. Now you can count Tyler the Creator, Ariel Pink, Questlove, Earl Sweatshirt, Foxygen, and more as artists that Wilson has inspired. Heck, even Sub Pop Records has cited Wilson as a major influence.

Eventually Motel Records found Gary Wilson after a long search living in San Diego and repressed You Think You Really Know Me in the early 2000’s. This led to Wilson returning to the stage, a documentary on Wilson’s career filmed by Michael Wolk titled You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story, a collection of b-sides and rare songs, and in 2004 Wilson released his first new music in almost 30 years on Stones Throw Records. Since then Wilson has released a number of new albums including 2019’s The King of Endicott and the two recent singles from the upcoming Gary Wilson/R. Stevie Moore collaborative album Fake News Trending (August 30th via O Genesis and Burger Records).

Wilson’s legacy in strongly intact in 2019, and while his live shows may not be as completely bizarre as they were known for in the 70’s (rumors of duct tape, fake blood, flour and milk during his shows), he certainly hasn’t lost any of his affliction for the avant garde. Gary Wilson bounced around the stage, rolled on the floor in garments, and genuinely had one of the more weird and exuberating sets you’ll see. His live set would still be considered outlandish by the casual music fan, and that’s what makes Wilson so outstanding as he’s able to keep his pop sensibilities, reeling in the listener with catchy moments surrounded by off kilter structures. It was beautiful to see live.

Part Time on the other hand may not have the decades that Gary Wilson has, but the project of David Loca, now based in LA, has left their own mark in the bedroom pop scene. Loca has a discography that reaches double figures for Part Time, releasing albums on a number of killer labels such as Mexican Summer, Burger Records, Lollipop, Mother of Pearl and more. Their latest, 2018’s Spell #6 was released in November via Burger Records. The five piece band played a long set of breezy psych pop from throughout their discography, enabling the crowd at 529 to lose their selves in the music late into the hot summer night. Part Time was euphoric, and the whole night was a lesson in how to bring alive bedroom recordings.

Check out photos from the show by Mike Gerry below:

GARY WILSON