Well here is probably my most anticipated album of the year. You guys have heard me talk about for a few months now, ever since I found out about it no less. Well I'm here to tell you, if you are already a fan of Wrinkle Neck Mules this album does not let down! It is everything a Wrinkle Neck Mules album should be....teemed to the brim and overflowing with sweet americana (or whatever they are calling it nowadays) sounds that are as unique as they are familiar. Now this may not be the most objectionable review, fact is I love the Wrinkle Neck Mules. I think they should be at the top of the american/alt-country whatever heap, and the fact that they are not still baffles me. These guys, and this album is a damn fine representation of that....they should win awards for this album! Get some wider recognition at the very least. The instrumentation, the songwriting, the arrangements, all of it top notch.
Now let's talk about the songs a minute here. The tracks alternate pretty consistently between what I like to call smooth twangers and rugged twangers. I wish I could tell you who's singing what songs, but I just don't know. The one guy has the rugged southern drawl, and the other has the smooth southern drawl, and I'm pretty sure there is a third guy in there too. Regardless, the sequencing plays like a great boxer continuously hitting you with one-two punches. Let The Lead Fly picks up where 2007's Wicks Have Met left off, while also bringing back some of the more traditional aspects of 2006's Pull The Brake. The result is a damn fine album, with songs like "Fortune Fades" recalling "Cadillac Limosine", "Catfish & Color TV's" recalling "Okeechobee", and "Before The Rise and Fall" recalling "The Wicks Have Met". But that is greatly simplifying things. Fact is this is a band consisting of many talented individuals who somehow manage to pull themselves together as a single band and make albums that keep getting better.
I said earlier in this review that this album is everything a Wrinkle Neck Mules album should be....I would like to recant that and say that Let The Lead Fly is everything an AMERICANA album should be! So if you are a fan of classic alt-country like Uncle Tupelo & Son Volt, a fan of good old fashioned country rock like the Byrds and The Burritos, a fan of bluegrass and country that's not afraid to rock, or just a fan of damn good music in general.....this album is for you. It's a damn fine album and I'll stand by that!
Buy Let The Lead Fly here (out tomorrow, first 100 pre-orders get a special "lead-ed" edition)
Posts
Can't wait to listen! Stuart Gunter (drummer) is a good friend of mine.
ReplyDeleteGreat review of a great album
ReplyDeleteI would love to see these guys live. Doubt they would come to Boston though A few more live recordings would be nice too. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to this one.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Mules new album, you mentioned that you could not tell who was singing, so you very likely haven't seen them live. The frontman and guy with the more "rugged southern drawl" sounding voice is frontman Andy Stepanian. The guy with the "smooth southern drawl" is (I am almost positive), the drummer Stuart Gunter, who is not even featured as a vocalist on their site [haven't seen any liner notes]. Either way, it is the same guy who did Cumberland Sound. He has the voice and delivery that is a lot more "mainstream" (maybe "broadly accessible" is a better term because I am not trying to insult them!). They seem to moving in his direction quite a bit over the last two albums when he emerged as a vocalist. I could be wrong about this, but I know that I saw him (the drummer) sing at a live show in Austin. (I had a few beers [getting ready to go see Deadstring Brothers!], so I don't recall which one.) You also mention a third guy. I also saw a third member of the band sing (and they introduced it as his first time to take over lead vocals on a song), but not sure of his name. He is the guy on the right of the stage as you face them; not the lead guitarist/banjoist/mandolin, but the other instrumentalist. Either Chase or Mason. Someone else can probably correct me or fill in the blanks here.
ReplyDeleteTrivia: They recorded several parts of the album in Austin. They were laying down tracks during SXSW 2009 when they came down to play the Americana Roots/Galleywinter showcase. I saw them the next night play an almost non-publicized non-sxsw show for about 10 of us in a dusty gravel parking lot right off 6th street with a screwed up sound system [no monitors] after a guy who was a Vanilla Ice starter kit only without any talent. We (the band and me) were laughing our asses off at him, but they were pretty distressed too since he was driving off the few people who were there to see them. It was so intimate in this weird parking lot place, I was hanging out and talking to Stepanian, who recognized me from the prior night showcase, and some other band members. Just a bunch of totally normal, laid back guys who happen to turn out incredible music.
Andy Stepanian--guitar, lead vocals
ReplyDeleteChase Heard-guitar, banjo, lead vocals
Mason Brent--guitar, mandolin, banjo, back-up vox
Brian Gregory--bass, back-up vox
Stuart Gunter--drums, back-up vox
Andy and Chase split up most of the singing. If you can understand the lyrics during a song, then it is Chase singing... if you can't, it is Andy. Chase sings Okeechobee, Cumberland Sound, Put your guitars, Howard Johnson. Andy sings Liza, Swagger & Honesty, etc.
ReplyDelete