- Mutts are:
- Bob Buckstaff – Upright Bass
- Mike Maimone – Piano, Vocals
- Chris Pagnani – Drums
Chicago’s Mutts are a keys/bass/drums trio who have been described as “Tom Waits fronting a garage band” by Time Out Magazine, and “what Queens Of The Stone Age would sound like if they ditched the guitars and started playing some dirty sounding organs” by Loud Loop Press.
But wait just one minute. On their 3rd LP – Object Permanence, out April 2nd, 2013 – the gritty trio sheds all amplification and goes clean. This is quite the risky move for a band that wasn’t easily categorized to begin with. Just when it seems that press and promoters are finally getting comfortable with the band’s sound (recently performing for Consequence of Sound, Daytrotter and booked at top-tier venues regionally alongside Murder by Death, Astronautalis and Maps & Atlases among others), Mutts is switching up their sound. This proves that they belong in an echelon with true artists; they are not a band concerned with categorization or making decisions based on career moves. Mutts was formed as a musical catharsis, and they’ve continued to make music for art’s sake over the past four years. And in typical playful Mutts fashion, their sonic switch-up Object Permanence, is a timeless-sounding response to the increasingly turbulent trend-shifts in music, pop culture and a class-divided society.
The album was recorded and mixed by Manny Sanchez at Chicago’s I.V. Lab Studio. It was released April 2nd, 2013 on 180g Gold-Translucent Vinyl, CD and digital download via Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon and select indie shops around the Midwest. Mutts celebrated the release with a nearly sold out hometown show at Hideout Inn on April 4th, and appearances supporting their new LP on Daytrotter, WGN national TV, NPR’s Chicago affiliate WBEZ, Audio Tree Live, WXRT, and a two-month release tour stretching from Missouri to New York.
Object Permanence is also the fulfillment of a $10,000 Double-LP Kickstarter campaign, in which they recorded one acoustic and one amplified album.
Less than a year after releasing it’s debut LP, Mutts released their follow-up LP – Separation Anxiety – on August 2, 2012. The album received immediate praise for the beautiful split-color “Mending Wall” vinyl, available along with CD and name-your-price digital download at http://download.muttsmusic.com. Separation Anxiety made the CMJ Top Adds chart at #15 on August 21, and then became the second Mutts release to chart on the CMJ Top 200 in 2012, peaking at #72 over it’s six week run.
Separation Anxiety finds the band back with engineer Jon Alvin, who recorded the first three Mutts EPs in 2009-2010. Spending four days at The Chrome Attic in Crystal Lake, IL, the band tracked the 7 songs they had prepared and wrote 3 more on the spot.
The band says that “going into this session we challenged ourselves to try something new on each track.” Recording live with minimal overdubs, Mutts sound like veteran artists with a fresh set of tools. And on their fifth release, Maimone still finds new ground to break lyrically, addressing the anxiety involved in coming out to his parents, exclusion in modern Christianity and politics, and finding new angles for social commentary on class warfare, divisive media, and the age of instant gratification.
Mutts released their debut album, Pray for Rain, on December 13th, 2011. It earned a #8 spot on the CMJ Adds Chart, then charted for six consecutive weeks on the Top 200, peaking at #107 twice. It was named one of the top Chicago albums of 2011 by The Huffington Post and received praise in national magazines Alternative Press, The Big Takeover and The Deli. Mutts were also named Chicago’s Emerging Artist of 2011 by The Deli Magazine.
In their first year together Mutts independently put out 3 EPs: Pretty Pictures, We Float and The Tells of Parallels. Developing a unique, genre-bending sound, Mutts were already “poised to become one of Chicago’s top acts,” according to Loud Loop Press.
Outside of the studio, Mutts quickly fulfilled the buzz garnered by their recordings and Chicago music scene pedigree (as members of: Bailiff, Wax on Radio, Hush Sound, Empires, Suns, 8-Bit Tiger, Big Science, This is Cinema and Company of Thieves). By their second year together, the band was headlining at staple Chicago venues including The Empty Bottle, Double Door and Subterranean. Throughout 2011 they also hit the road often, while still holding down part-time jobs, bringing their unique sound throughout the Midwest and to the East Coast.
In 2012 their prolific studio work and constant “weekend warrior” touring culminated in several festival appearances, including Milwaukee’s Summerfest opening for Young the Giant, Chicago’s Do Division opening for Murder By Death, and opening for Maps and Atlases on the UW Terrace in Madison. An action-packed Summer, in turn, has kept the buzz going from Pray for Rain right into their new release on August 2nd. The first single, “Half Mile,” was featured on the CMJ and Chicago Mixtapes, “God, Country, Grave” was featured on the Lollapalooza episode of Local Anesthetic on Chicago’s WXRT 93.1FM, and the album is scheduled for national radio distribution August 21st.
Mutts decided from the outset to give away their music digitally. As such, the band has kept fresh, honest and spontaneous music flowing to their growing fan base for three years. They have sold out of the first pressing of each EP, but all three are available as free downloads on http://download.MuttsMusic.com. Their LPs – Pray for Rain, Separation Anxiety and Object Permanence – are available on CD, vinyl, and also a name-your-price download at http://download.muttsmusic.com (preferred by the band), as well as iTunes, Amazon, and at most Chicago-area record stores.
Press Reviews
Chicago trio Mutts’ nimble, funky rhythm section, with Bob Buckstaff on the low notes and Chris Pagnani behind the kit, would be entertaining to watch on its own, but throw in growling, keyboard-wielding frontman Mike Maimone, and you’ve got a monster on your hands. Their fall 2012 album Separation Anxiety focused on Maimone working through the process of coming out, fueling a stormy blast of garage-revival blues with touches of prog and swampy metal. Scant months later, the group is touring behind a new album that represents a nearly 180-degree shift in style: Object Permanence sees them unplugging their amps and digging into their jazz and blues roots, with Buckstaff scaling back to an upright bass and Maimone focusing on grand piano and organ. Comparisons to Tom Waits are inevitable, but more than just approximating one of Waits’ styles or inhabiting one of his many characters, the band members use their own skills and world-weariness to develop an original take starting from Maimone’s perspective, from the bouncing “If It’s Hot It’ll Sell” to the pointed New Orleans R&B number “Pray Like a Vigilante” to the smoke-wafting closer “Uncivilized.” – Stephen Traseger
Dialed down but certainly as intense as some of their previous harder rocking efforts, the new Mutts release has some of the bands best songwriting and a sweet reworking of “Prizefighter” which you first heard on Local Anesthetic off a Mike Maimone solo disc in 2008. Maimone is the keyboardist, vocalist and principal songwriter in Mutts but bassist Bob Buckstaff and drummer Chris Pagnani make the music swing. And sway. I describe the Mutts sound on Object Permanence as late-night cabaret meets Tom Waits meets Kurt Weill in a Wiemar Republic speakeasy. It’s already perched itself as one of the Anesthetic Best of ’13. Enjoy. – Richard Milne
Mutts talk to Richard Milne about recording Object Permanence, touring, and the story behind select new cuts on Chicago’s Finest Rock, WXRT 93.1 FM.
Kindly Provoking The Flames | Mutts lead singer Mike Maimone seems like a man who can go from resting, from sitting on the couch experiencing little to nothing, to suddenly having his brain and everything connected to it light up like the Las Vegas Strip, like all of the pull machines and marquees hitting jackpots… He goes from zero to a hundred quicker than most… He’ll just throw that barroom piano over into the corner of the room and rowdily bang on it as the flames climb the walls and get into the ceiling, where they can really begin their engulfment.
Mutts music embraces the inner turmoil, the things that are striven for, the ways that we fall short, the ways we’re let down, as well as the few things that spark us back onto the right track, even if those are the rare moments, the briefest of comebacks. - Sean Moeller
Mutts performed 5 songs including two from the new LP, Object Permanence.
With dark lyrics and vocals that sound like unfiltered Camels soaked in whisky, it’s no wonder Time Out Chicago once described the Chicago band Mutts as “Tom Waits fronting a garage band.” Usually plugged in, Mutts will bust out the acoustics to perform songs from their new album, Object Permanence. We’ll talk to the band about the release, and hear some live music.
Mutts talk to Tony Sarabia and perform two cuts from the new LP Object Permanence on NPR’s Chicago affiliate, WBEZ 91.5 FM.
Chicago’s rock trio Mutts is known for gritty, grungy guitar distortions and loud in-your-face blues rock. But on their newest album, Object Permanence, you’ll hear none of that. Mike Maimone’s guttural vocals take the center of attention, delivering poignant social commentary over stripped down, unplugged arrangements. The band joined Jesse Menendez on The MusicVox to talk about the new songs and the change of sound.
An entirely unplugged affair, the Chicago trio’s third full-length flips the coin on last year’s amped-up companion, “Separation Anxiety,” stripping down to piano, upright bass and drums for a rowdy, rhythmically rich mix of skid row show-boating highlighting biting blues and hootchie-cootchie boogie. Fleshed-out by contributions from This Is Cinema, Hemmingbirds and Lying Deliah, “Permanence,” lurches from sloppy bullfrog bop to crooning juke-joint stomps, spewing nubile truths beneath ragged bar-room ballads while compiling street-wise asides inside scorching carny bargains. Toddling honky-tonk broncos riding grizzled social missiles over melodic boxer’s logic, Mutts’ gruff constructions creep, leap, and enliven, primed in ivory-tickling testifying dancing to rousing vagabond chronicles. Touring this spring throughout Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, and Illinois, Mutts’ vibrant live shows are not to be missed.
2013:04:01 : Loud Loop Press
Chicago rockers Mutts are leaving the amps at home these days. Listeners can expect the same organ-heavy blues rock set to sparkling piano grooves, which is offset perfectly by frontman Mike Maimone’s own smoky, rough and tumble vocals.
2013.01.02 : Illinois Entertainer Magazine
Separation Anxiety is a serious recording dealing with profound issues, but that doesn’t mean Mutts simply pump out droning shoegazer ditties. Their self-described grunge/blues sound is energetic (though a skosh schizophrenic), moving from gritty guitar workouts like “Tire Swing Blues” to screamfests such as “Now Now Now.” These 10 cuts (plus an untitled hidden track) are weighty yet worthwhile. (muttsmusic.com)
– Jeff Berkwits
2012.11.07 : Now This Sound is Brave
Elements of rock, hardcore, progressive, thrash, funk, blues all throw in together for a meaty stew in songs that lyrically explore subjects from politics to religion to maintaining a romantic relationship as a touring musician.
It’s a compelling mess (and I mean that in the best way) Mutts are making here, never falling into cookie cutter parameters or imitation. Many of the elements used are familiar, but the direction these elements are taken is not, and that keeps your attention, wondering where Mutts will go next.
Now here’s the part that really excites me: Separation Anxiety was funded in a Kickstarter campaign as part of a double-album deal. The second album, Object Permanence, will be an acoustic album and a sampler listen shows the album running in a vein similar to “So Many, So Many” and “Separation Anxiety”, so keep your ear to the ground for that one.
Read Full Review
2012.09.28 : Epitonic
Mutts cover a broad spectrum of blues, from light Southern shuffles to heavy, dirty rock, and singer Mike Maimone adjusts from a gravelly whisper to distorted screaming.
2012.08.08 : Playground Misnomer
Mutts is the perfect definition of a weekend-warrior band that might finally break out… Separation Anxiety is an album chock-full of very, very personal songs… Maimone recently came out to his friends and family, and many of his lyrics document his uncertainty of society’s acceptance of homosexuality… Mutts is billed as a blues-rock band – think Tom Waits, Queens of the Stone Age, Murder By Death, and a little bit of The Dead Weather all tossed up and served together – but the lyrical density and intimacy transcend the traditional definition of a blues group… regardless of what musical muscle they may be flexing, Mutts always retains a fantastic, singular raw emotion throughout Separation Anxiety… The prolificity of Maimone and the rest of Mutts is quite incredible, releasing two, potentially three full-length albums inside of a year. I’m excited to see how Object Permanence stacks up to the tracks on its excellent counterpart, and you should be, too. If you’re a fan of hard rock, blues, or anyone with something interesting and important to say, check out Separation Anxiety, along with the rest of Mutts’ discography, at their Bandcamp. The best part is, it’s all available free of charge. Read Full Review
2012.08.01 : Vocalo 89.5FM : Live From Studio 10
Broadcast on Vocalo.org, 89.5FM and WBEZ 91.5. More here.
2012.Spring : The Big Takeover Magazine
Everyone compares Chicago’s Mutts’ leader Mike Maimone to Tom Waits, and since the singer cops to loving the California cackler, there’s no condemning it. That conceded, though Mutts play hometown indie haunts such as Double Door and Empty Bottle, their ancestral lair lies south of The Loop, from days when New Orleans R&B stars plied black blues joints. When I think Waits, I think Screaming Jay Hawkins, and Maimone howls a lot like the “frenzied” late Jalacy. But his rollicking piano ‘n’ organ-smackin’ funky bayou romps, like the dirty 6/8 totter of “Done it Again,” ooze, crawfish-like, like a garage rock clatter inversion of the filé gumbo-brown swamp stomp of Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Huey Piano Smith, Eddie Bo, Jessie Hill, and later Ernie K. Doe. Wolfman Jack would have loved Mutts; he and Maimone could howl at the full moon together. – Jack Rabid
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 : 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
2012.01.07 : 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. ”
Read Post
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.”
Read Full Post
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.”
Read Full Post
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.”
Read Full Post
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
