Mutts setlist from ????

We saw Mutts (from Chicago, now mostly defunct since frontman/singer/pianist Mike Maimone relocated to Nashville – I think – around 2019 or so) pre-pandemic, both at Mile of Music and in Indianapolis for Romanus Records Fest (possibly twice there). They are absolutely fantastic live and Pray For Rain, their first full-length, channels a lot of their brand of energetic bluesy and soulful garage rock, punctuated by Maimone’s signature deep growl (one reviewer says, “Mike Maimone fires off his lyrics like pissed off Nick Cave in a blues mood”). Wherever/whenever we saw them they clearly played two songs off of the LP and they are two of my top picks: “Not Ready” which is super high-energy with a ska-like beat, and “Done It Again” which has a sinister waltzing beat and a feeling like the listener is darting along an old-timey 20’s film noir movie set. That old-timey vibe is also present on “D.O.B.” (feels a bit Cab Calaway) and the sinister on the super-dark, gothic (not goth, just gothic) “Save Us.” Two other top picks are “Throwback” which has a super-funky, slinky groove plus chugga-chugga rocking guitar, and the album closer “Putting on a Show” which is a combo of pure chaos, a highly danceable beat and some serious head-banging vibes.

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Stuck Together is Mutts’ 7th or so release in the past 10 years (including EP’s). My top tracks are (not surprisingly) the rockers like “Better Believe It” (check out the insane Mad Max-inspired video they shot for this – it’s also funny because it’s as if Mad Max had an 80′s era band van and because the characters Mutts inhabit are really nothing like how they are in real life: from my interactions with them, they are really really nice guys), “Treason,” “Tin Foil Hat” (another hilarious video, this one shot a few years ago) and “Let’s Go.” “Let’s Go” is so damn good – they re-recorded or remixed it for Stuck Together; it has previously appeared on their 2017 Stick Together EP (so did “Tin Foil Hat” and the opening track on this LP “I’ll Be Around;” the 2017 EP also marks the addition of current drummer Ian Tsan who replaced ) as well as their 2019 retrospective LP Hey, We Are All Mutts. It deserves to be on all three releases because this song is fantastic – in my top 10 for this past year. I also really dig the heavy beat hypnotic (sort-of) title track “Stick Together” which closes out the album.

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Sometimes bad weather puts a literal damper on things but in this case, it created a sense of gleeful solidarity among the audience members who stayed for the show once the festival crew swept away the standing water from the stage and removed all of the hastily thrown down tarps. Scales was great, the Mutts guys providing a solid backing for his “dive bar soul.” Then Mutts hit the stage, raucous, energetic, loud and so much fun! They describe their sound as “grounge” which I’m guessing is lounge-grunge mashup and is fairly accurate; as is the quote from their bio that they sound “like Tom Waits fronting a garage band,” mainly due to singer/keyboardist Mike Maimone’s gravelly vocals and vibe.

Rounding out Mutts’ lineup is guitarist/bassist Bob Buckstaff and drummer Ian Tsan. Tsan is a relatively recent addition to the band, on the LP Separation Anxiety drums are played by Chris Pagnani.

Mutts are from Chicago and have been around for almost exactly 10 years, touring relentlessly these past several months for that anniversary. Weirdly this is only the second time I’ve seen them: the first was a year ago in Indianapolis for the inaugural Romanus Records Festival (which we will be heading to again this upcoming weekend and I think Mutts are on the bill) so I can’t really be certain if their sound has shifted or not. But their live show at MoM was a lot more energetic than their 2012 release so I really need to get on checking out their newer recorded material. I do like Separation Anxiety especially the more upbeat tracks like “Half Mile,” the funky “Apathetic Stars,” and the heavy “Tire Swing Blues” – that one really earns the term “grounge.”

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