mutes Archives - Page 2 of 3 -

November 30, 2018June 24, 2019

SINGLE: ‘Trust is Blind’ – The Cosmics

Words by Ed King / Pics by Psychedelic Eye – courtesy of The Cosmics

On Friday 30^th November, The Cosmics release ‘Trust is Blind’ – the lead single from their forthcoming debut EP.

Now anything coming from The Cosmics is a reason to sit up and pay attention, with the Birmingham based three piece being easily, confidently, absolutely one of the best live acts to come from The Midlands right now. And I’m a professional cynic.

But the feisty garage rock that The Cosmics have been boot kicking off stage and across t’interweb, since the gloriously sharp and short ‘Johnny’ in 2016, has taken a back seat here – giving way to what the press release calls ‘a delicate, heartfelt break up ballad developing into feisty ‘fuck you’ noise rock with honest lyrics’. And you know what… it’s dayum good.

Honestly, when first I sat down to review ‘Trust is Blind’ I had to check I wasn’t listing to Mazzy Star. Which is often a strong possibility at my desk. And a strong plus. But the opening soft riff, giving way to Erin Grace sounding as Hope Sandoval as you’re going to get (without actually being Hope Sandoval) is a page straight from the guitar led low-fi bible.

But then, just over a minute and a half into this nearly four minute single, all hell breaks loose. To use another very commendable comparison – ‘Starla’ by Smashing Pumpkins. And that is again A O fucking K with me (they swore first). The tempered and teased out beginning, which is delivered with aplomb (not everyone in the genre can – yes, I’m talking to you Low) bends over and gets royally shafted by a visceral account of love, trust, betrayal and how “you really messed up my mind, truth is blunt, trust is blind”. At least I thinks that’s what Grace is singing, but the ferocious cacophony is an unassailable sonic stamp on just how shitty/shifting/capicious love can be.

(N.B. HEALTH WARNING / Gig going public and venue owners beware, when this glorious monster gets played live you may witness the first recorded flight from a Marshall amp – possibly followed by a few bodies and bar stalls for good measure.)

But if you click on the single cover artwork you can have a listen to ‘Trust is Blind’, in all its spellbinding softness and rock and roll glory, and can make up your own minds. This is either going to work for you or it’s not. Although you may be in the wrong room if you start turning your proboscis towards the sky.

All I can do is sign off with my own two cents, ‘Trust is Blind’ is an absurdly exciting move from a band who already have that live music mojo pulsing though their veins – paving the way for an EP I will be shoving aside the elderly to get my hands on first. In short, me like. More please. Lots, lots more.

The Cosmics release their latest single, ‘Trust is Blind’, on Friday 30^th November. For more on The Cosmics, visit www.facebook.com/thecosmicsband / To listen to ‘Trust is Blind’ via Spotify, click here

The Cosmics also headline a single launch gig at The Sunflower Lounge on the same night, with Thee MVPS, Paper Buoys, and Mutes also on the bill. For direct gig information, including venue details and links to online ticket sales, visit the Facebook event page – click here.

For more on The Sunflower Lounge, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this feature – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse, or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK website.

November 1, 2017

BREVIEW: All Years Leaving @ Hare & Hounds 22.10.17

Words by Emily Doyle / Pics by Denise Wilson

On Sunday afternoon, I get off my shift at work and straight on the number 50 bus. I’m necking coffee and a sandwich to power up for day two of All Years Leaving at the Hare & Hounds.

I’m disappointed to get there minutes late for Mutes’ set in the Stables. The boys are still packing down, and there is a gaggle assembled to ogle their pedal boards. I’m assured that the set was “atmospheric and moody”, and I fear I missed out.

There’s no time to worry about that though, as Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam are just getting started in the Main Room. On entering, the bass hits you square in the chest. It’s sure to shake off a few hangovers this morning. Their pop-punk energy certainly garners some appreciative head nods from the already large crowd.

“This song is one of two Halloween songs we’re doing this year.” ‘Halloween 6 (He’s Still Gonna Get You)’ is heavy, angular, and accompanied by swirling red lighting. Is this what can be expected from Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam’s Halloween Party with Table Scraps at the Dark Horse on Friday? Time will tell. They follow it up with ‘Too Far From Real’, a song about, “being a real shitty dad. Not my dad! But like how I would be if I were a dad”. Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam have delivered a triumphant set on home turf. The bar is already out of Red Stripe.

Downtown Boys are next, hailing from Providence, Rhode Island (“the smallest state!”). Vocalist, Victoria Ruiz, is clad in a flower crown and dungarees, and has a stage presence that manages to be both primal and authorative. The cutting riff of ‘It Can’t Wait’, supplied by Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, perfectly underlines Ruiz’s sincere delivery. ‘Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas)’ is buzzing with hardcore punk energy. The set ends with ‘A Wall’, the contemporaneous opener to Downtown Boys’ 2017 LP Cost Of Living. I catch Ruiz in the Stables later, where I pester her to sign my newly purchased copy of that LP. She is charming and signs it ‘XOXO 4 ever chulas – Victoria’.

My gig-going accomplice, Jo Chustecki, arrives, excited to watch Diet Cig. Guitarist Alex Luciano briefs the crowd: “Our shows are safe spaces. Be kind to each other.”

Their playful ode to teenage romance, ‘Sixteen’, sees Luciano pirouetting across the stage. She leans into the mic and asks, “ready?” – before Noah Bowman kicks in with the drums. This is sugary pop-punk at its finest – not one song outstays its welcome. Luciano is a high-kicking Care Bear. “We’ve been on tour for seven weeks and I’m sick of eating Cheetos from the gas station. But, being here in a room full of punk-ass festival people reminds us why we love it.”

Luciano performs the second drum kit dive of the day (Downtown Boys beat her to it) and it’s not even dark yet. She preaches the true meaning of punk, “Inclusivity for everyone and troubleshooting with your friends because your shit is always broken”, and climbs atop a speaker to kick Bowman’s cymbals while she belts out ‘Scene Sick’ from their 2015 EP Over Easy.

Luciano introduces the newer ‘Apricots’, telling the crowd, “this one’s tender if you have your crush and want to kiss them now”. Closing the set, ‘Barf Day’ is dedicated to “the feeling when you had your favourite food for lunch and you can’t get it out of your head”. For Diet Cig, that favourite food is apparently Toby Carvery.

Repeat of Last Week are downstairs filling the Stables with melodic, interlaced guitars backed with cajón beats. Apparently this was supposed to be an acoustic set, but it got out of hand. I sit outside and listen while eating the packed lunch I brought. It’s a welcome respite from the chaos upstairs, and a recharge is necessary before what’s to come.

The Main Room is the fullest it’s been so far, when Priests take the stage. Vocalist, Katie Alice Greer, is centre stage in a ballet costume and white combat boots. The shambolic bass of 2014’s ‘Doctor’ is the perfect counterpoint to her snarling vocal delivery. In ‘Suck’, Greer achieves a banshee woop to rival Patti Smith.

Daniele Daniele makes the drums shiver beneath the dissonant guitar. Greer is now thrusting at the crowd as her tutu sways back and fourth. They close the set on the stuttering, atonal post-punk freak out ‘And Breeding’. Priests are touring partners with Downtown Boys, and it’s hard to imagine a more perfect pairing.

TRAAMS frontman, Stu Hopkins, urges the crowd to move forward and fill the dreaded semi-circle before they begin their set. Fellow Hungry Ghost Jay Dyer turns to me ominously, still exhausted from yesterday, and declares “It’s either bed or pit. I choose pit.” He disappears into the fray.

Squeals of feedback mark the beginning of TRAAMS’ set, only to stop abruptly so Hopkins can switch out guitars. They kick back in with renewed vigour, all flailing guitar and percussive bass. After the chaos of Priests, TRAAMS’ brand of krautrock is precise and meditative, thanks in part to their driving rhythm section.

Hopkins pauses to wish the crowd a happy Sunday. He says little else. The sinewy alt rock of tracks like ‘A House on Fire’ and ‘Costner’ says it all. Hopkin’s freeform lead guitar balances their spartan performance style perfectly.

After TRAAMS are over, a woman behind me in the toilet queue overhears the other patrons raving about their set, and tells me she regrets her decision to sit in the bar downstairs eating pizza. She’s here for Idles and hasn’t seen any of the other bands this weekend, because she “didn’t know they’d be so good”. I have a feeling she is still going to get her money’s worth.

Idles are the most anticipated band of the weekend. The Main Room is packed before the stage, and there is a jostle for room at the front. They march on and carry out line checks, and are greeted with a jarring chorus of Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’. Welcome to Birmingham, Idles. Rattling drums and a single note on bass herald the start of their set with brand new track, ‘Colossus’. Frontman, Joe Talbot, growls into the mic about the building noise: “I am my father’s son, His shadow weighs a ton”.

The room erupts. Bodies surge forward. Table Scraps bassist, Tim Mobbs, can be seen thinking better of his decision to bring his camera into the pit and scrambling over the barrier. Without a break, the driving bass of ‘Mother’ cuts above the cheering. Talbot, who wrote the album Brutalism while grieving for his mother, gives a visceral performance. He spews raw emotion into the microphone. The masses scream along to the refrain, asserting that “the best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich”. The first stage invader of the night takes out the mic stand with a clumsy dive. Hands scramble to pass it back. Fan favourites and brand new tracks sit side-by-side in the unrelenting set.

Idles have the frenzied audience in the palm of their hand. ‘Alcohol’ devolves into primal screams before Talbot announces that, “this next one’s called ‘White Privilege. If you don’t like it, go listen to the fucking 1975”. Guitarist Mark Bowen climbs onto Talbot’s back and proudly strums away. The familiar riff of ‘Well Done’ cuts through the room and the crowd are delirious.

By this point there is an almost constant stream of stage divers, both band members and punters, making their way across the room. In a bold move, they close the set with a brand new song. Relentless, rapid fire drums and thrashing guitar ensure the electric ‘Rottweiler’ is an immediate hit at All Years Leaving. Idles are the white hot punk cherry on top of an unbelievable festival.

Stumbling out into the cold, I see Tim Mobbs and Table Scraps’ drummer Poppy Twist embracing Talbot. I approach him and mumble something about how good their set was. He notices my brand new PINS shirt with approval before disappearing upstairs somewhere. Josh Frost of Mutes and Jay Dyer emerge, covered in glitter that seems to have spread around the audience during the headline set. We try to gather ourselves, shivering in the October cold, before heading home.

All Years Leaving is a testament to what This Is Tmrw are capable of. AYL 2018 can’t come soon enough.

Matters @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Matters, visit www.soundcloud.com/mattersband

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Mutes @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Mutes, visit www.mutesuk.bandcamp.com

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Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam, visit www.sunshinefrisbeelaserbeam.bandcamp.com

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Downtown Boys @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Downtown Boys, visit www.downtownboys.bandcamp.com

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Diet Cig @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Diet Cig, visit www.dietcig.bandcamp.com

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Repeat of Last Week @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Repeat of Last Week, visit www.soundcloud.com/repeatoflastweek

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Priests @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Priests, visit www.666priests666.com

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TRAAMS @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on TRAAMS, visit www.soundcloud.com/traams

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Idles @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Denise Wilson – Birmingham Review

For more on Idles, visit www.idlesband.com

For more on All Years Leaving Festival, visit www.facebook.com/allyearsleaving

For more from This Is Tmrw, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from the Hare & Hounds, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

November 1, 2017

BREVIEW: All Years Leaving @ Hare & Hounds 21.10.17

Words by Emily Doyle / Pics by Cameron Goodyer

Presented by This Is Tmrw, All Years Leaving is entering its fifth year – returning to it’s Hare & Hounds birthplace as a bona fide institution of the local live scene. I’m ashamed at this point to admit I’ve never been before, but the line-up for 2017 is too good to miss. I’m there for doors on the Saturday, unsure what to expect.

People are already milling in the Stables. Terror Watts are having a pre-set Guinness outside. Upon entering the main room, the smoke clears and animations by Johnny Foreigner’s own Lewes Herriot are visible; a giant with flaming fists looks down on the proceedings from projector screens hung around the venue.

Terror Watts kick off proceedings to a healthy crowd. They deliver a pitch perfect set of fan-favourites. The stupidly catchy ‘Time Bomb’ is an ear worm if ever there was one – good luck shaking that from your head for the rest of the weekend. They close the set with newest single, ‘Tough Guy’, released this summer on PNKSLM. It’s a perfect slice of sunshine-y slacker rock.

The room is already a real who’s-who of the Birmingham music scene. Steve Hadley of Setting Son Records is ferrying gear up and down the stairs; He sports an ‘I Am A Hungry Ghost’ badge like a proud dad. Tim Mobbs of Table Scraps is snapping away as the event photographer. I step outside to take a call from Birmingham Review’s absentee editor, Ed King, who is checking I got there okay, remembered to take an exercise book, pencil case, packed lunch and the like. While on the phone I look down from the balcony onto the smoking area to see James Brown of Mutes, immaculately made up, sheltering from the drizzle and nursing a pint of Blue Moon.

Back upstairs, Her’s slowly fade in an uptempo drum loop. The Liverpudlian two-piece look at home on a stage. Bassist, Audun Laading, bops round wearing a floaty cardigan and high-hanging Rickenbacker. Fragile, sighing vocals float above lush interwoven guitars. The assembled crowd sways. The jaunty ‘Speed Racer’, complete with sequenced hand claps, snaps the room out of its dream pop reverie for a brief moment. Guitarist Steven Fitzpatrick speaks up:

“Has everyone got a good strong beer? No? That’s good, we don’t wanna be supporting beer all the time. I like Vimto.” A pause as Laading configures the next drum loop. “This one’s a slow sexy one for all the lovers in the room – and all the straight edge people.”

They launch into ‘Cool With You’, the six minute centrepiece of their 2017 Heist or Hit release, Songs of Her’s. Half way through it lapses into a bossa nova jam. Her’s closes their set on their swooning shoe-gaze waltz, ‘What Once Was’. I speak to Josh Frost of Mutes afterwards and he suggests that Her’s would have made a good roadhouse band in the new series of Twin Peaks.

Downstairs, the Stables are cosy and filled with the smell of pulled pork. The crowd floods down to watch Miles Cocker. It’s at this point I’m thankful of the lack of set time clashes – the line up is solid, and there’s not one act you’d be willing to miss.

Cocker usually supplies bass for notorious sex punks Youth Man. Today he shows his softer side, strumming on a beat up white Stratocaster. Heartfelt lyrics like, “maybe she’ll grind my bones to make her bread / or shoot an apple straight off my head” are quickly offset as Cocker comments, “yeah, you can get pretty poetic about diarrhoea”.

Back in the main room, Swampmeat Family Band are turning up the heat. A cover of the Rolling Stone’s ‘Down Home Girl’ slots neatly into the set alongside their own tracks. Classic rock ’n’ roll moves paired with numbers like, ‘Brand New Cadillac’ and ‘I’m a Fucker, Not a Fighter’ make them the perfect party band. And party they shall, as Danny C takes pleasure in announcing. “We’re back here on the 21st for a Christmas party with the Hungry Ghosts!” Fellow Hungry Ghost, Jay Dyer, is with me – we exchange excited glances and head to the bar. I run into a rather jet-lagged Bryony Williams. She fills me in on her set at The Sunflower Lounge supporting Denai Moore, and her recent adventures in New Orleans, both of which sound surreal.

West Yorkshire trio The Orielles saunter on to stage for some mellow indie pop. They sip beer from plastic bottles. They play their new single, ‘Let Your Dogtooth Grow’, which offsets a pleasingly sloppy riff against lilting drums. At this point my gig-going partner in crime and All Years Leaving veteran, Jo Chustecki, shows up. She is just in time to hear them close the set with the much awaited, ‘Sugar Tastes Like Salt’. The ominous bass gets the crowd moving.

I realise it’s been hours since breakfast. Jay and I head out to the chip shop over the road for sustenance, and make it back just in time for PINS.

Since first hearing their track ‘Aggrophobe’, I’ve been looking for a chance to see PINS live. They waste no time filling the room with the driving bass of ‘Hot Slick’. Bassist, Anna Donigan, begins to pogo and the others follow suit. The strutting ‘Heart Is a Machine’ starts up and vocalist, Faith Vern, grasps the mic with both hands and wails at the crowd. Kyoko Swan delivers pounding synths.

New single ‘Serve the Rich’ is anthemic, and Vern takes the opportunity to let the crowd know that, “we told everyone that this single is sold out, but we have a few copies to sell after the set. Come find us later”. A savvy move indeed and one that causes much deliberation at the merch stand later (I am unable to choose a record and on Donigan’s sound advice end up going away with a T-shirt). At the end of their set it dawns on me that they didn’t even play ‘Aggrophobe’. As great as it is, PINS are certainly no one-hit-wonders.

Back in the Stables, The Bank Accounts are popping open a magnum of prosecco. They entrust it to a friend of the band who is here on her own, and tell her to go make friends. She hands it around the crowd as they sing: “I just bought an Amazon Alexa. I don’t need it, but it’s just nice to have someone to turn the lights off for you”.

I am standing with Jo, Jay and James Brown. We all take a swig of prosecco, except for James, who is passed over for some reason. He wistfully watches the bottle drift away. Jo comments that she feels as though she’s just wandered into a rural pub, perhaps in Cornwall, and doesn’t know what’s going on.

The Bank Accounts proceed to play a tongue in cheek interpretation of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ before producing a bottle of spiced rum. They are excellent hosts. They play a song about having rum and frontman, Benjamin P D Kane, wanders into the crowd to offer it around. He is immediately accosted by local artist and writer Priscilla Baker, who envelops him in a bear hug. James gets his hands on the bottle of rum and drinks his fill.

Hurrying back up the stairs we are greeted by the growling bass of The Wytches, The dirge of ‘Who Rides’ builds to a crescendo as the room fills up. The band are solemn on stage. Doom laden riffs like ‘Ghost House’ and ‘Throned’ cement The Wytches as a much heavier band than they were in 2014 when Annabel Dream Reader was released, and the stuttering ‘C-Side’ is the star of the set.

As they’re packing down, I lean over the monitor to inspect bassist Daniel Rumsey’s pedalboard. In doing so I catch the eye of a similar die-hard fan, who narrows his eyes at me. I compliment him on his Black Angels shirt and ask if he was at their gig at the Institute last month. “Yeah”, he replies. “We met at the merch stand for A Place To Bury Strangers. You tried to convince me to shell out £200 for a Death By Audio pedal.” I maintain that this would have been a sound investment.

Sitting at the top of Saturday’s line up are Macclesfield alt-rockers Spring King. After a long day of drinking and dancing, the crowd were ready. As soon as they begin to play, the area in front of the stage is a churning mass of bodies. Their 2016 album Tell Me If You Like To is composed of wall-to-wall live winners, and they roll them out one after another without pausing for breath. Before long the crowd are up on stage dancing around the band, and Spring King revel in it. Drummer, Tarek Musa, hands a stick to someone so they can bash away at his kit.

Multiple circle pits later and it’s all over for Saturday at All Years Leaving. The audience members dissolve into the night, those with the prized black wristbands ready to do it all again tomorrow. PINS are outside chatting to Bryony Williams, smoking and planning their journey to Melkweg, Amsterdam. In a discerning booking, they will be opening for The Breeders.

Terror Watts @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on Terror Watts, visit www.theterrorwatts.bandcamp.com

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Her’s @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on Her’s, visit www.thatbandofhers.com

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Swampmeat Family Band @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on Swampmeat Family Band, visit www.swampmeatfamilyband.wixsite.com/swampfb

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The Orielles @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on The Orielles, visit www.soundcloud.com/theorielles

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The Wytches @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on The Wytches, visit www.thewytches.com

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Spring King @ All Year Leaving 21.10.17 / Cameron Goodyer – Birmingham Review

For more on Spring King, visit www.springkingband.com

For more on All Years Leaving Festival 2017, including online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/allyearsleaving

For more from This Is Tmrw, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.thisistmrw.co.uk

For more from the Hare & Hounds, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

June 9, 2017June 15, 2017

THE GALLERY: MUTES – No Desire album launch @ COW 02.06.17

Words by Ed King / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe / Video by Trapeze Film

On 2nd June MUTES released their debut album, No Desire.

Out via FOMA Records – the Birmingham based label for Repeat of Last Week and Hoopla Blue, the nine track MUTES LP was launched with a one off gig at COW, the mahoosive vintage clothing shop next to the O2 Institute. So big you could cram a cheeky rave in there, which we tried to do once before it became a clothes shop; good to see it being used for events.

Piggy backing a Digbeth First Friday for a free showcase event MUTES were the only act on – giving the marching musical marauders on their way to Mama Roux’s an intimate bite into the band’s new material. Five years ago I’d have said ‘to the The Custard Factory’; ah Heath Mill Lane, when it was all fields…

Birmingham Review had been chomping its eager beaver teeth through No Desire all week, managing to get MUTES’ front man and founder, James Brown, to sit down and talk to us too. To check out the Birmingham Review of No Desire, click here – or to watch the man who gave birth to this sonic monster you can click here, or on the YouTube link at the bottom of this post.

So there’s no reason to go outdoors ever really. Just sit here and we will bring you all your thoughts, ideas, opinions and post (INSERT NATIONALLY GALVANIZING EVENT HERE) diatribes; ah informed thinking, when it was all…

Or you could peel yourself away from something Apple branded and try and catch MUTES for yourself, which might not be as easy as I’m goading you to do – but click here to stalk them with more online efficiency.

Eleanor Sutcliffe was at COW to check out the No Desire showcase and launch – see some cherry picked pics below, or click on the relevant links for the Full Flickr of Pics.

MUTES @ Cow 02.06.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

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MUTES’ front man & founder, James Brown, talks to Ed King for Birmingham Review @ Blotto Studios 01.06.17 – watch out for the solo performance of ‘Blood’ at 26mins 36secs.

MUTES debut album, No Desire, is out on general release. For more from Mutes, visit www.mutesuk.bandcamp.com

For more from FOMA, visit www.wearefoma.bigcartel.com

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For more on Blotto Studios, visit www.facebook.com/BlottoStudios

For more on COW Birmingham, visit www.wearecow.com/contacts/#birmingham

June 2, 2017June 8, 2017

ALBUM: No Desire – MUTES / INTERVIEW: James Brown

Words by Ed King / Pic by Aatish Ramchurn / Video by Trapeze Film

On 2^nd June, MUTES release their debut album, No Desire – out in the big wide world thanks to the Birmingham based FOMA Records. And for anyone in the 0121 there’s a launch gig at COW vintage clothing (Digbeth) on the same day: doors open at 7pm, admission free, click here for more info.

Birmingham Review caught up with MUTES‘ front man and founder, James Brown, at Blotto Studios in Digbeth – to check out our full interview click here or on the Youtube link below. Watch out for the solo performance of ‘Blood’ at 26mins 36secs.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The first release from MUTES as a band, No Desire is a ‘sprawling’ nine track endevour that works ‘through urgent noise-fests, slow-burning drone sequences and seductive siren songs with assured ease.’ Well, yeah, kinda… I wouldn’t want to write a press release for it either.

Kicking off with perhaps the most obvious track, ‘A Burial’, the first word that comes to mind is Nirvana – as in SubPop grunge and not the end game of Saṃsāra. Nothing wrong with sounding like Kurt Cobain or dying your hair blond, I’d even forgive an awkward morning with Courtney Love… just don’t make a habit of it.

Fast, frivolous, only two minutes long, ‘A Burial’ will probably be the soundtrack to some self indulgent teenager as they raid the kitchen draw to make those all important marks for school on Monday. But it’s not the best No Desire has to offer. Neither is ‘Knotting off the Vein’, the second track on the album, but grab something objective and in under four minutes you’ll be onto the more appealing main course.

(James Brown has been curiously, candidly disparaging about No Desire’s opening two tracks – citing the decision to open with ‘A Burial’ was more “to get it out of the way”. They’re not bad, they’re just not the best representation for No Desire as a whole; the album steps up once you’re a safe distance away from the start.)

Rabbit punch percussion and affected vocals launch ‘Primrose’, as the psychedelic spangle guitar that will be your guide trough this LP starts to embed. Raucous, then reserved, this is heading in a better direction. Makes me think of…

Then we have seven minutes of distorted sound fuzz; in a Spritalized haze we float through the middle of the album before a twenty second six string kiss leads us into ‘Dust’. Beginning as a shoegaze affair extraordinaire, ‘Dust’ picks up halfway and throws itself into a Smashing Pumpkins ‘Starla’ supernova with just over 1 ½ minutes to go. For me, this is where No Desire makes its mark. This is also where I stop picking the album apart track by track.

The beauty of No Desire is a dichotomy of extremes. There’s some ‘noise rock’ fluff, some short hit quick fixes, but those handful of minutes become an acceptable background to something much bigger. To something much better. It’s the marriage of the heavier rock (for want of a better expression) and the circling opiate haze that makes this LP memorable.

Nailed in only three studio days (can’t quite get my head around that) the man behind MUTES claims they don’t have ‘a sound’ but I beg to differ – I think they’ve got three. And when they’re all rolled into one, long, ooze… glorious, even without Lou Reed in your veins.

No Desire, to this set of ears, feels like a step up for MUTES – a more crafted ensemble of songs that are best listened to in their entirety, although the bottom’s not going to fall out if you began from track three.

An album, all the way through, who has the time?!?!?!? Don’t worry, it’s only 9 tracks long. The above word count is 626. The interview below is about 20mins long and No Desire will take you under three quarters of an hour from start to finish. YOU MUST CONSUME EVERYTHING WE CREATE.

But there’s an easier way to get your chattering teeth into this new body of work from MUTES, just listen to the title track first. Or you could always get to the MUTES Album launch gig at COW and see it first hand – either way the clue’s in the title.

MUTES’ front man & founder, James Brown, talks to Ed King for Birmingham Review @ Blotto Studios 01.06.17 – watch out for the solo performance of ‘Blood’ at 26mins 36secs

‘A Burial’ – MUTES (from their debut album, No Desire)

MUTES debut album, No Desire, is out on general release from 2^nd June – with a launch event at COW vintage clothing in Digbeth, click here for more info.