Mutt is an underground group of super strays. If you've ever seen the hilarious and poignant Lost Dogs live—depending perhaps on your age—it may strike you how much Taylor and Hindalong and the Seventy-Sevens' Mike Roe and the Choir's Derri Daugherty have more in common with the diverse pre-rock years of American entertainment—when singers were not necessarily songwriters—and a mix of electric comedy and heartfelt performance grounded in a wide variety of traditional music was not so utterly rare. This was an era in which the Carter family and many other clans would bend Swamp hymns with cornfield lamentations, but not leave out the wisecracks and the soft shoe. Entertainment wasn't ubiquitous then, and a surly attitude from a petulant 'six string bard' would be rewarded with neither a mystical reputation nor a hard-earned dollar. Thus, their album Mutt blatantly draws upon a period when artists would update and keep in circulation their previously much-loved songs. What this means is that my wife and I can sing along to yet another dazzling performance of "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, & the Pride of Life," one of the most shocking and somehow comforting white blues songs that was ever jangled and crooned. It's all in how you look at it: These other nine songs are such gems—including a much-needed update of the apocalyptic "If You Want To," from DA's overlooked Kalhoun and the always-pleasing "Beautiful, Scandalous Night" from the tragically out-of-print At The Foot Of The Cross. A real gem can always be brought out again, spit on and scrubbed down, showed off for a new crowd, or for the delight of the people who always appreciate a sparkling tune. So where's the crime? If you've heard them before, you know you're going to want to hear these songs again. Now if there was someway to audio-merge these plaintively beautiful numbers with the superb comedy of the personalities who perform them live ... that would be even better!
Editors' ratings — Doug 4/5, David 2.5/5
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2004Reviewed by Aaron C. AndersonWith no frills, no special effects and a small recording budget, the Lost Dogs have made an album that is genuinely good, not because of some big marketing push, not because of some high paid publicist, not because of big name musical guests--but because of top notch song writing. The music on this project can be best described as a mixture of acoustic rock, country, and blues. This record is a…Similar sounding releases
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