Growing Old With Rock and Roll

Growing Old With Rock and Roll

Monday, February 5, 2018

Alpha Mule - Peripheral Vision (2017)



Written by Jay Snyder, posted by blog admin

This Cali-duo works up a good ol’ Mason Dixon moonshine sweat on their debut Peripheral Vision.  Though sometimes they ramp up the membership and play live as a trio or even a full band, the core of the group remains Joe Forkan (guitar/vocals) and Eric Stoner (banjo/guitar).  Lively opener “Corpus Christi” gallops across desolate American with hoof-pounding banjo and guitar licks building a deep acoustic foundation for Forkan’s smoky, gritty vocals to construct gorgeous mantras upon.  Soft vocal harmonies and swells of volume from quiet to surprisingly bombastic yield a piece that’s as subtle as it is blues and hard-hitting.  Light touches of harmonica and wailing steel guitars yield a total musical package that latches onto your eardrums, never letting go in the process…  Special props go to the greasy tempo slowdown heard that the 3 minute mark which casts the tune in a darker, drearier light for its closing moments. 

“On the Moon” is more of an uplifting trot with plucky acoustic guitars and giddy-up banjo hooks giving way to peppy, hook-laden vocal melodies that are more of a broad daylight affair than the midnight madness heard on the lead-in number “Corpus Christi.”  Fen Ikner’s percussion firmly maintains a pocket alongside the energetic upright bass licks and the catchy whistling melodies.  It’s a nice tune through and through, yet a polar opposite flip from where the album began.  The title track brings in some gorgeous pedal steel and a traditional slow dance country tempo where dusty vocals, well-controlled acoustic guitars and a barren little banjo lick search in tandem for the next watering hole.  This is real deal country; the kind that you rarely hear on the radio anymore and a stylistic reminder of what this sound was all about before rap and electronica infiltrated the genre.  The lyrical hook in the chorus (heavily featuring the song’s moniker) is one of the strongest and most memorable vocal melodies on the entire album.  Moodier and bleaker than an overcast southern sky, “The Distance” features Forkan’s guitar and vocals in the respective lead roles, delegating Stoner to subtle, atmospheric banjo runs and some of his own acoustic guitar accompaniment.  Jacob Valenzuela’s crying mariachi trumpet is another nice touch which only furthers the atmosphere of this magic track.  Bubbling, boiling Latin-themed percussion enriches this piece with an instrumentally organic groove that’s draped in layer upon layer of swirling, sweltering aural sweetness. 

The funky, jazzy “Pavlov” is a pure representation of Nashville-bred, ol’ school honky-tonking with a rollicking upright bass line and crash n’ bang acoustic licks propelling the husky rockabilly vocals forward into an endless desert sunset.  This is Alpha Mule at their most upbeat and swinging; grappling with a groove and wrestling it into submission.  “Mule in the Mine” takes the energetic pacing one big step forward by careening the tempo into a bluegrass boogie that’s as contagious as their stellar songwriting gets.  A waltzing bass line, twinkling acoustic guitars and pristine steel melodies inflect “Step Outside” with a certain modicum of pop appeal thanks to sweeping 2-part vocal harmonies that hit all of the right notes.  Rounding out the album, “The Ballad of Huell Howser” combines busy bluegrass with a soothing folk guitar work out, “Music of Our Hearts” returns to the horns and mariachi influences and closer “Empire” is a dreamy, pitch-black blues/folk apparition with haunting vocals bewitching the brainstem and sullen string work bathing the melodies in spectral darkness. 

With 5 bonus tracks in tow and a main album that’s delightful in every respect, Alpha Mule lays down the law on Peripheral Vision.  This is soulful stuff that draws its most clear inspirations from great musical styles that are now decades old.  Anyone that’s into folk, country, blues, bluegrass and Western film scores would do well to score a copy of this record ASAP!

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