MUX – EP REVIEW

Mux – Can You See Who? EP 
Mux - Can You See Who? 

Release Date: Out Now

OK, I’m sorry. I have to hold my hands up on this one. I’ve been hogging this EP to my ears and not sharing it. On the plus side, I’m sharing it now so stop looking at me like that. Seriously, stop that. Londoners Mux are pretty new to the scene, they’re not even out of their first year yet, but this four track EP shows that they mean business and they know how to carry out their business. The EP opens with recent single ‘MDMA’ and for the uninitiated then we’re talking Alt-J, Dutch Uncles, Hot Chip and Depeche Mode all rolled in to one sexually aggressive tune with demonic guitar wails and rhythms that pulse and throb like a submissive tied to a leather chaise lounge. The band follow this up with ‘Teenager Father’ which starts off with the terrifying lyric “Kill me, mother, please kill me now” before a chaotic electro-punk melee ensues until the music drops out, save for a lonely guitar line, and that lyric is repeated again with chilling effect.

Mux - somebody forgot to bring their own chair
In a world where the likes of Slaves, Sleaford Mods and other abrasive alt-poppers are grabbing all the headlines, Mux are striding up assuredly on the outside with all the attitude and aggression but they’ve got the melodies and wit to match it as well. ‘Stray’ is a faltering, dark, edgy piece that rumbles and murmurs in the shadowy corners as an organ bed is pummelled by stabbing beats and grating guitars. An unexpected guitar solo line rings out like Hendrix noodling in the studio during the smoke filled early hours and the vocals switch from sleazy crooner in a Vegas dive bar to anguished indie scream that wouldn’t be out of place in a Radiohead live set. The gloriously titled ‘Gold and Prozac’ brings this collection to a close and the sketchy guitar line grabs your attention while the rhythms build up from all directions until you feel like you’re in some sort of experiment where they blast Basement Jaxx, the Fall and LCD Soundsystem at you 24/7 until you can no longer make rational decisions about which members of your family you’d save in a house fire. If you were to draw a Venn diagram with circles for aggression, sexual energy, left fieldism, abrasiveness, style, substance and a sense of the unhinged then Mux would exist in the tiny cross section in the middle. Now, whether you want to join them in that exclusive club is up to you but I’m sure as shit heading in so hold my pint if you’re not coming too.


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