2012.04.11 : The Deli Magazine Interview

2012.04.01 : Alternative Press Magazine

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2012.03.10 : The Deli Magazine SXSW Issue

2012.02.28 : Electric Panda

The raspy vocals and relentlessly hard blues rock of this Chicago three piece makes a whiskey on the rocks sound better than ever before. It’s the kind of edge and dirty soul that just can’t be faked, so filthy they make The Black Keys seem sterile.

Critics and consumers alike often argue about what can be categorized as “real” or “genuine,” but there is no argument here, just emotion and energy boiled down to it’s purest form. Read Full Review

2012.02.01 : The Deli Chicago Emerging Artist of 2011

2012.02.01 : Babysue.com

If you heard a band describing themselves as a cross between Tom Waits and Nirvana you’d probably think it was a joke…right? Well truth is stranger than fiction…and the guys in Mutts really do sound like Tom Waits fronting Nirvana (or something like that…). These guys had previously put out three EPs but this is their first full-length release. Pray For Rain features some surprisingly aggressive piano-based songs that truly rock. This band has a sound that is raw and intense…and yet their songs are well-thought out and resonate in the mind. We honestly can’t remember when we’ve heard a group with a sound quite like this… Read Full Review

2012.01.29 : Lumino Magazine : Mutts’ New Album Will Make You Pray For More

To say that an artist is “coming forward with a truly unique sound” is a cliché that, more often than not, doesn’t even truly apply, as there is very little ground that hasn’t been traversed before. However, that is the most accurate way to describe this album and its feel. Although the sound itself, utilizing an array of both electronic and acoustic instruments, is quite well refined, the sound still has quite a gritty, earthy feel to it. Full Review

2012.01.13 : Absolute Punk Featured Free Friday Download

2012.01.07 : Hiawatha Review

Serendipitous music: that’s what I say I want, as if you can put a microphone within fifteen feet of a speaker and suddenly have the magic of CD level crisp, distinct and distinguishing sound. But that’s how I want it to feel. I think the actual goal is resonance. Resonance is what happens when you play the string of one guitar and the similar string of another guitar in the room hums sympathetically without being touched. So, what happens when people hear organic sounds, human sounds, sounds let’s call raw? We resonate. These sounds ring a similar bell somewhere inside us and we hummm.
Ragged and raw is a great way to start to describe the Mutts’s warm and atonal form of badass bluesy rock and roll with rollicking dirty piano rolls, fat stand-up bass, fuzzy-filthy guitars, and heavy, jubilant drums. Maybe rich, grimy, or explosive would work too, but with so many angles—so many stories, so many tones and sounds—ragged, raw, explosive, all these words are just a taste, a first-bite, a start to describing something so human. Give it a listen, put it on the speakers, stand in the room, hum.
Read Full Review

2012.01.07 : The Deli Magazine

Best Chicago Emerging Artists of 2011 #6 – See Full List

2012.01.07 : The DaDaDa

After several spins, it’s clear that the band is appropriately named. Bits of heavy metal, blues, rag time and grunge mark this album, which was released in mid-December. Like a good mutt, Mutts exhibits the best characteristics of these genres and seem to revel in their eclectic influences…
Throughout the album, it is clear that the Maimone and Buckstaff are having a lot of fun, and are happy to take the rest of us along for the ride. Read Full Article

2012.01.03 : Illinois Entertainer Magazine

“Pray for Rain – free to download – holds off on the bpms, but only so their Tom Waits-meets-Oh My God fists can reload to strike again after your skull rebounds off the wall.”
IE Online

2012.01.02 : Dedicated Ears

“Mike Maimone’s voice is front and center on (Pray for Rain), which explores some new ground for these gods of the bottom end. The growl of “Fool” is Mutts’ classic sound and the more experimental “Save Us” is a doomed call from the apocalypse if I’ve ever heard one. It’s nice to see Mike and this really tight band exploring new territory. “Done Again” is my favorite track, which finds the guys using a little restraint and some really nice percussion. That fade toward the end and the subsequent buildup is magical. “
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2012.01.01 : Mad Mackerel

“(Mutts) are a no-holds-barred rock band from Chicago melding growled vocals with dirty blues inspired riffs and a righteous anger that somehow reminds us of the Drive-By Truckers playing with MC5 and fronted by Tom Waits.”
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2011.12.28 : Huffington Post

Best Chicago Music of 2011 #26 – See Full List

2011.12.26 : Radio One Chicago

“Chicago’s Mutts released their full-length debut, Pray for Rain, late in 2011, but the album still managed to get the attention of college radio and select blogs before the holidays. We are happy to weigh in on this amazing, if divisive, collection of songs as the year races to a close.
Pray for Rain, like the Mutts stage show, is not for everyone. The album is too thick and greasy for most pop fans. That said, if you like music with some grit and noise, the album flails and lurches with enough gonzo abandon to make one punch-drunk after listening.”
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2011.12.20 : Music That’s Nu2Me

“(Done it Again) is quite the interesting infusion of Rock meets Ragtime with some Jazzy piano beats laced throughout in the background. Now I know this all sounds fine on paper, but their sound comes off as more than that and is something of an experience in itself that everyone should partake in.”
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2011.11.30 : Playground Misnomer

“They’ve released consistently great music for a while now, blending the most deranged sensibilities of Tom Waits and Man Man into some sort of nightmarish bluesy post-punk – and it’s never sounded better than it does on their upcoming release, Pray for Rain.
Pray for Rain opens as explosively as it possibly can with “Fool” and from that moment onwards, it becomes clear Mutts aren’t holding anything back on this one. The first time I heard “Fool” it absolutely tore my head off; the fact it still does is indicative of a surprising staying power which is something that often proves to be the downfall of bands that could be (incorrectly) scraped into the “novelty act” tag. However, here the songwriting, musicianship, and arrangements are transcendent enough to avoid that. Every member is a powerhouse at commanding and finessing their individual talent and it shows in abundance at the immediate outset of this album as well as its closing moments, and everywhere in between.”
Read Full Post

2011.11.28 : Indie Monday

“I’ve never met a band that fuses so many genres into a sound uniquely their own. You can hear the grunge in the sounds they choose for their instruments, along with the heavy drumming. You can hear King Crimson in the odd time signatures they effortlessly move through. And you can hear Tom Waits meeting Randy Newman in Mike’s whiskey-soaked melodies. The result is a band who has been placed on bills with metal bands (albeit a tad awkward), while also having a residency at Uncommon Ground, a hushed, coffeeshop environment. Nowhere can the range of their sound be heard better than on their new album Pray for Rain, due out in December.” Read Full Article

2011.03.24 : Audio I.V.

“In all my years of working with independent artists, I have never been as impressed with a band as I am with Mutts… As a whole they’re incredibly talented, passionate, and business savvy. With a lead singer who also acts as manager, and years of collective experience as hired guns, Mutts is ready to make waves in the world of rock music.
Since their conception in 2009, Mutts has self-released 3 EP’s, played a countless number of shows in and around the Chicago area, and received glowing reviews from dozens of publications. Known for their intensity, these brothers-in-music have created a recording and performance style that’s just as polished as it is off-the-cuff.” Read Full Article

2011.03.24 : Chicago Red Eye / Metromix

2011.03.09 : The Total Scene

“Take the growl of Tom Waits and the dirty guitar sound of Nirvana, and you have some idea of the excitement that the Chicago band creates both on record and on stage.” Read Full Interview

2011.03.09 : Stories From a Scene

“Formed in July of 2009 Chicago’s own Mutts have been hard at work getting music out to the masses releasing three EP’s in their first year. Their live performance is fascinating and lead singer Mike Maimone’s passion is evident on stage, but don’t take my word for it, go see for yourself!”

2010.Fall Issue : The Big Takeover Magazine

“Maimone’s low, guttural, forbidding voice sets the speed, while heavy, distorto bass and pound-pound-pounding drums channel Blue Cheer, Cream, and Hendrix’s Experience, while Maimone introduces his central weapon: forsaking all guitar, his organ is so piercing, loud, harsh, and mean, you don’t notice. Shifting from New Orleans funky rock like “Masquerade” to a Dr. John-goes-Funkadelic hangover like “Junior”, or throwing needles in the red on The Doors’ “L.A. Woman”-on-angel-dust (or steroids!) “Terranaut,” The Mutts will gleefully wreck a bad party—or save it.” – Jack Rabid

2010.10.06 : Dedicated Ears

Plenty of swing, a bit of soul and tons of conviction mark Mutts shows. Every Mutts show I have seen has a different twist. In this show the guys welcomed Yoo Soo from the Hemmingbirds to play viola amidst the growl and prowl of Mutts bottom end rumble. It was interesting dichotomy to have the higher end of the viola in that setting. – Dedicated Ears.

2010.09.28 : Loud Loop Press

"Chicago’s Mutts aren’t playing around. The first aspect of their new EP, The Tells of Parallels, that truly jumps out from the speakers is its pure heaviness. Heaviness in the static-y production value and heaviness in general attitude. Every instrument on the record is mic’ed up to 11: the drums, the bass, the keys, the guitar. Actually, scratch that last one. The trio actually forgoes the guitar and instead relies on a dirty, mud-soaked key tone to drive the melodies. It’s saying something that a band can reach the big rock n’ roll moments of current major acts like Queens Of The Stone Age or the Dead Weather without an axe, but Mutts do and quite effortlessly at that.

Mutts pretty much let it all hang out. The Tells of Parallels is not only well produced… but it works because of it’s simplicity. Mutts never drag. They give it their all in five-minutes or less, and it really works. The band are poised to become one of Chicago’s top acts if they keep pumping out material that’s as good as what The Tells of Parallels has to offer. "

2010.09.19 : TheMixtressOnline.com

"The Chicago-based trio plays frenetic, rambunctious rock music with Mike Maimone’s keys and vox at the forefront. Like a modern jam band with some heavy blues and noise rock nuances, the music moves. It’s non-repetitive or stagnant; unpredictable and yet familiar."

2010.09.18 : BeehiveCandy.com

"Taking a prompt from the EP cover, it’s a bit like standing next to the railway line as a crazy express train hurtles past. If you like good old rock’n'roll with some attitude and energy and a hint of insanity you will like Mutts. "

2010.09.14 : Loud Loop Press

"Ever wondered what Queens Of The Stone Age would sound like if they ditched the guitars and started playing some dirty sounding organs? We may never know the answer to that, but we’re pretty sure Chicago’s Mutts get damn close. There’s not a guitar in site for this gritty three piece. They have vocals, keys, bass and drums and nothing more, but their organ tone is so beefy and menacing that you won’t even notice an axe is missing. Add to that front man Mike Maimone’s bluesy, frantic vocal delivery, Mutts are seemingly a group on the rise in the windy city."

2010.08.25 : Muruch.com

"Like a zealous, unruly year-old puppy, their EP We Float runs the rambunctious gamut of influences, spanning jazz, blues, grunge, metal, industrial and rock. Considering the juxtaposed jumble of components, however, Mutts’ combined output is a cohesive sound… If you possess any manufactured pop sensibilities, delicate or otherwise, you may not immediately find too much to latch on to amidst the stripped down production and frenetic, raw vocal stylings. But there’s a brutal honesty buried in the roughness, and the moments where the melodies begin to surface and take hold add just enough suggestion of shine to keep you listening."

2010.07.23 : HolyFuckingShit40000.com

"Mutts are a Chicago-based rock band that play rough-around-the-edges rock filled with melodic riffs and interesting ideas. All in all, a recommended listen. Give it a go."

2010.05.28 : Off the Dial Podcast

"Raw, raunchy, good rock stuff." – Chris Andrade, on Beggar

2010.05.27 : Reviewsic.com

"Mutts has a wonderful rough around the edges quality that makes them seem like a loveable band of misfits."

2010.05.20 : BeehiveCandy.com

"Intrigued to listen to the three member band centered around Keyboards, Bass and Drums, I have to say right up front that they ooze energy and passion, however they do not use punchy volume to disguise any weaknesses, in fact quite the opposite, yes they are ‘loud’ but they are a tight well crafted group of musicians worthy of closer inspection."

2009.Fall : The Big Takeover Magazine, #65

"The Windy City barrel house piano man is back, a year after his kickin’ and snortin’ mix of Doctor John, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman: the bleary-eyed and gin-soaked Open Mic Nights, Empty Bottle Mornings. Maybe he awoke dry-mouthed and headache-y, because these four tunes are even more cantankerously impolite, with our boy hissing, seething and growling like Screaming Jay Hawkins in the graveyard, busting out bits of swamp blues and mean-dog voodoo R&B (see the bitterly titled "Trust"). Being a "recovered accountant," he’s an informed source to decry tricks employed by them to cheat workers, and bassist Bob Buckstaff and drummer Chris Faller rumble behind his pumpin’ piano jive like men who suspect they’ll be similarly stiffed by the club owner. The "last call" barroom blues of "Uncivilized" is a good chaser, too." – Jack Rabid, on Pretty Pictures EP

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