The Mutants-Your Desert My Mind

Different: not the same as another or each other; unlike in nature, form, or quality. Eclectic: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

These are just two definitions of separate words that sum up to perfection Your Desert, My Mind the new album from The Mutants. Oh and, while we’re on the subject, another definition could be for that of Genius: an exceptional intellectual or creative power.

In fairness, when asked to review the album expectations weren’t that high. However, from the moment the opening titular track had ended after 6 minutes and 55 seconds, the hook was so far beneath the skin it would be impossible to remove without causing severe and quite possibly irreparable bodily damage. In fact, so enigmatic is it the volume button was tweaked so that neighbours four doors up might have thought the 6pm Easy Jet from Malaga was coming in a bit low over the roofs of our houses!

The sheer size and scale of this album make it, however, somewhat difficult to review. Ask a kid to pick their favourite toy in Hamley’s, for example, and the choice will be different every 2 seconds. That’s the effect Your Desert, Your Mind has. Fidgety (featuring Sean Wheeler) finishes, then Vultures (featuring David Catchley and Bingo Richey) – with its funky riffs, electro heartbeat, smokin’ vocals and deep, painfully cynical lyrics – begins.

“Fuck with her and you’ll be dead, no matter what you do. She’s got skills, to get her thrills!” I mean, come on, if that’s not poetry to make Angus and the gang sit up and take notice, what is?

The album also has a sound reminiscent to that of a lot of bands – The Afghan Whigs and an upbeat Radiohead, to name but two – but is also a work of such singularity it defies the hole in which a pigeon resides.

Night Bus To Krakow, for instance, is classic Marilyn Manson or Korn or Roger Waters but without the bombastic, “kill ‘em all” undertones. Its subtlety is magical. Its resonance spine tingling. Its lack of loveliness like watching the sun set across the power plant in Sellafield at the end of days. And then there is the post-Punk glory of Machismo Postura, a track created for the Mosh Pit if ever there was one.

When asked to review the album, it came with the caveat of “something different”. Well, they certainly got that right and without any question whatsoever, Your Desert, My Mind is a positive oasis in the all too often barren lands of musical originality, zest and guile.

Tracklist

01.Your Desert My Mind

02.Post Everything Blues

03.Fidgety

04.Vultures

05.The Final Hand

06.Night Bus to Krakow

07.Night Bus to Krakow (The Return)

08.Lucky One

09.Always Know Where Your Water Is

10.Highway 62

11.Machismo Postura

12.Distant Light

Release Date: 23 Sept. 2016

Label: Killer Tracks

Copyright: 2016 Killer Tracks

Total Length: 42:26

ASIN: B01LAJ3SSU