Save Your Face

The Mules are a weird, oddly appealing, but ultimately frustrating mess of contradictory musical impulses. By all rights, their debut album should sound like a dog's breakfast: the artsy tomfoolery of the Tiger Lillies, the abrasiveness of the Fall, the jittery neo-post-punk of Franz Ferdinand, and an unexpected folk-country influence all collide in varying proportions throughout Save Your Face. The only obvious antecedent would be the long-running Liverpool pranksters Half Man Half Biscuit, who have mixed lo-fi punk, British folk tunes, and sardonic pop culture references since the mid-'80s. Sadly, the Mules are nowhere near Half Man Half Biscuit's elite status: singing drummer Ed Seed simply hasn't got the vocal delivery or lyrical smarts. However, the rest of the bandmembers mix up their brash combination of punk noise, dance rhythms, and Mekons-style fiddling (courtesy of the album's instrumental star, the excellently named Nico Beedle) so well that it makes the listener wish for a better frontman. ~ Stewart Mason|