American singer-songwriter Barton Carroll has a style that is at the same time personal and folkloric, as first-hand experiences of heartache and bad luck blend with the sort of macabre twists found in the oldest traditional ballads.
His closing song ‘Small Thing’ is a harrowing true account of a sixteen year old German girl abused by Red Army soldiers at the end of World War II, which despite the beauty of the guitar picking and the subtlety of the lyrics and their delivery, remains emotionally devastating.
Wolf People carry on the dark folk vibe, though in a distinctly English and prog rock infused context—classics such as Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull, as well as contemporaries like Trembling Bells being obvious points of reference.
Their intricate arrangements are deftly pulled off in a gig setting, as songs move through dynamic shifts from semi-accoustic introspection to raging riffs with energy, but also laid-back ease.
Mudhoney are one of the most resilient bands from the grunge golden age, still touring and recording when many of their contemporaries have long since burned out, broken up or fallen into obscurity.
This isn’t to say Mudhoney are a nostalgia act—sure, the crowd sings loudest to the Superfuzz Bigmuff and other early EP material, but the band itself has morphed from juvenile punk brattishness to a mature and confident form of musical aggression, more Fun House than The Stooges.
The Stooges might be a lazy comparison for a reviewer to make, but when Mark Arm puts down his guitar, takes the mic in hand and goes ‘taps aff’ for the second half of the set, it’s hard not to see the heirs of Iggy looking back at you.
The band plays a healthily long encore, finishing a medley of songs with an extended bass soloing and snare-thumping version of ‘In n Out of Grace’.
Words: Calum Calderwood
Photos: Nadia Murdoch
