 The Mumlers Low, rumbling horns that ease into bright colors welcome us to this powerfully charming, intricately knotted bramble. San Jose, California's The Mumlers' debut, Thickets & Stitches (released February 12 by Galaxia Records), has the hard-to-pin-down but irrepressible atmosphere of bands like Lambchop or Camper Van Beethoven. Both addictively listenable and obviously bent, The Mumlers sashay to their own drum, but take a moment to listen and you'll likely grab a fife and join them. I guess you'd call this pop but there's equally strong whiffs of cabaret music, smart jazz, garage rock and ambient digressions. "Shake That Medication" swings like some long lost '60s Motown single dragged into the self-help present, the loving work of kids chasing pure soul with whatever tools are at hand. There's a delightful kitchen sink aesthetic to the instrumentation, a pots & pans hoedown kept in check by an inspired reel caller. Nothing gets in the way. In fact, it's only on repeated listens that you'll pick up the breath & body in the arrangements. The songs are by bandleader Will Sprott, who croons with the naturally ancient burr of Randy Newman and Leon Redbone, though with more swivel in his strides. It's a fantastic, unique voice and it doesn't hurt that he's crooning subtle stanzas that sneak up on your subconscious with real force. For example, this bit from "Shake That Medication": "The band's not always playing when you're bent out of shape/ So we're putting this song down on the audio tape/ When you're real low down/ When you're by yourself/ Throw this record on the platter and grab some pills from the shelf/ Shake your medication."  The sad-eyed, broken-voiced alt-country of "The City Inside the Stone, Part One" seems to say all there is to say about Coarsegold, the Dying Californian's third release for Santa Clara's Turn Records. Dying, indeed. This opening track's weary harmonica intro and mournful a cappella closing speak loud and clear: Loosen up your overalls and kick off your boots, it's been a long year. But the raucous indie rock of "Second Shadow" is a new dawn, a Pavement-styled take on San Francisco's tradition of gritty frontier-rock. From here, Coarsegold — named after a town at the geographic center of California, where Berkeley-based lead singer and songwriter Nathan Dalton stumbled across his dusty muse — blends DIY obstinacy with Willie Nelson, Cowboy Junkies, and 29 other flavors of parched Americana. Dalton's occasional guitar solo aims to free the listener of this forlorn funk, but by the album's warm-hearted, full-circle conclusion — "The City Inside the Stone, Part Two" — any desire to escape has faded to empathy.
 Local SC Hero Hod Hulphers One of the Bay Area’s most overlooked talents is Hod Hulphers, a fantastic songwriter who has kept himself low on the radar but is seriously due some attention. Hod recently released 1/2 Odar, which is available via Sap Moon Records in a “pay how you deem” fashion. I suspect they were doing this before Radiohead decided to, more evidence that the burgeoning underground has its fingers on the pulse more than any of us quite know yet. It’s shambling, expansive folk rock reminiscent at times of T. Rex–I talk my share of shit on the freak folk movement, but when experimental and far-leaning folk is done well, I know to pay respect where it’s due. I’m posting a couple of tracks to take a listen to here, but you know the drill: head over to Sap Moon and buy 1/2 Odar, which is a solid (if, admittedly, lo-fi) album and proof that Hod is an artist to watch. |
