The Mules
Hoxton Bar & Grill
12th June 2008
In Association with Hidden Fruits Music
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Following a self induced exile to an east London recording studio to write the follow up to their highly acclaimed 2007 debut album “Save Your Face”, The Mules chose the Hoxton Bar & Grill as the place to stage their welcome return.
With a new deal signing them to Domino Publishing, and Anthony Whiting (producer to M.I.A and Eugene McGuiness) drafted in on production duty, forthcoming album “All Of The Fun, None Of The Fair” is due for release later this year.
So alongside support from Broadcast 2000 and the current industry buzz band, Micachu & the Shapes, it was inevitable The Mules would pack out the infamous Hoxton venue to showcase their new material.
Singing drummer Ed Seed complete with new hair and captivating stage presence led the band in its dynamic hour long set which elegantly mixed together 17 songs from the past and of the future.
Kicking off with 2 new tracks, ‘City Mini Break’ and the interestingly titled ‘Devon Chicken Farmer’, the rambunctious mix of rockabilly meets post-punk circa funk vibe instantly began.
Older tunes including the superb ‘Polly-O’, ‘Rhino’ and ‘Ham Shank’ recreated the excitement amongst the crowd that they had first time round when ‘Save Your Face’ was released and reinforced how the Mules can fuse so many genres together convincingly. This is a band notorious for favouring rhythm over melody and many of their songs are short but still have the desired effect.
New offering ‘Matthew Buchinger’ has a vocal reminiscent of Adam and The Ants set against dramatic fiddling and repetitive guitar strumming. ‘Jenny Sell The farm’ was another new song, which took inspiration from the traditions of folk music and by the time they belted it out in the second half of the show, the audience and the band were raucously enjoying what was on offer.
The guitar heavy ‘Seasonticketholder’ was the penultimate offering with its serious barrel-house piano, before they immediately changed direction again and broke into ‘Misprint’ to finish in true electrobilly style.
Its fair to describe the Mules as employing a vaudevillian element into the mix along with lyrics dripping in humour continuing this theme from their debut. Although, there were times when the humour was stripped away allowing for the sadder themes to break through.
The venue had a carnival ambiance about the place and despite criticisms in the past that their live shows have been shambolic, tonight they came together in style. It was apparent that their time away whilst writing the new record has given them the opportunity to get tighter as a group and hone their respective musicianship.
The Mules remain comparable to bands and artists from different scales of the spectrum all colliding with each other at once, from Costello to Talking Heads or The Wedding Present to the poetic natures of Dylan and it serves to maintain the cabaret-punk racket they have created.
Great fun and superbly entertaining, the new album is eagerly anticipated!
Review by Francesca Strange
Photography by Gareth Jackson - www.myspace.com/jacksonfoto
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