Muzzlewhite
Muzzlewhite
Big Dipper Records/Sonet

Muzzlewhite, this four piece + one (plus guests) combo, ride again. From out of their moody, melancholy darkness. Laidback twang, dusty gloom and whispering semi-angst. Muzzlewhite is their second longplayer, and they have taken some steps further from their debut.

It's easy to drop Madrugada as a reference. The single choice, the slow "My Hero" is still a great song, with Karen Jo Fields on guest vocals. And there are some good songs. Sure. But, hey, albums lasting one hour! I mean; it's really hard to keep on being interesting for 60 minutes. Dangerous. And hard to avoid fillers. And; the first edition of this CD even includes a 5-song bonus CD. However there are good songs, don't get me wrong. The best tracsks to these ears are: the quiet-turns-fuzzy "Underachiever" (even tough the chorus stinks a bit), the calm-then-explosive "This Safe Place", "One Side Of The Truth", and the jolly "Captain Morgan at Havana Club". Not to forget the closing accordion version of "Henry's Bunch".

Trying to sum up things a bit: Muzzlewhite seem to be a sympathetic bunch. Capable to write good songs, yes. But, as I've already mentioned: why not cut down the length of records. Getting the feeling of dullness is not positive.

Copyright © 2002 Håvard Oppøyen