THE MIXUS BROTHERS - TO HANG ME HIGH
2017 - Slo Gin Records
From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this is the fifth full length album release by the highly gifted Mixus Brothers, a band that has a core of the two founder members, with various friends helping out both live and on record. If you think the name 'Mixus' is unusual you probably won't be surprised to learn that is not actually their real name and as is so often the case with 'brother' bands they are also not siblings although they most definitely are brothers in a musical sense!
It's strange how we interpret sounds but this album most certainly falls within the broad scope of country music although it has the feel to me of a genre that is new, prog. country perhaps? I know progressive country already exists but I'm not describing it as progressive in that sense; this album is prog, at least to me, in a more prog rock sense! Splitting hairs? I don't really think so. 'Progressive country' was very much a 1970s label that was invented to cover numerous artists who brought something new to country, such as the 'outlaws,' Willie, Waylon, Kris and many others and is still used to describe myriad artists who update the 'classic country' genre (or genres?). The sense that I'm trying to describe the Mixus Brothers in is more related to early 70s 'prog. rock,' when experimentation and pushing the boundaries of rock music to what seemed to be the limits, at least, at that time, although we now know differently. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these Mixus boys are a prog rock band; very far from it, but they do seem to approach country music with that attitude rather than gently developing the tradition.
The core of the band consists of Jebbh Mixus on vocals, guitars and banjos with Red Mixus also handling vocals with percussion and guitars. Keith "Cletus" Reed plays bass, Rich "Waldo" Gibson plays pedal steel, dobro and guitar, whilst Jed "Sonny" Dixon plays banjo on several tracks. Whilst they differ in most ways their approach to country music reminds me of the long defunct and sorely missed by me, 'Cowboy Nation,' in terms of individuality and a large dose of originality whilst not straying over the outer boundaries of 'country music.' The band themselves have described their sound as 'ranging from Bluegrass and Alt-Country Rock to Indie-folk and Psych-folk,' a description that is difficult to argue with on most levels, although I can't say I hear that much bluegrass, but as with most country sub genres there are elements of many genres in their music. Perhaps, on reflection, I should have picked on 'psych country' as a more appropriate, snappy, description but we are still left with the fact that there is that almost cinematic, expansive texture to their songs, all of which are built on memorable melodies and a 'high lonesome' atmosphere that is perhaps where the 'bluegrass' description comes from. So many of the twelve songs, most only clocking in at two to three minutes in length, have an epic, cinematic quality that belies their brevity and again makes this band unique.
All of the playing is not only excellent but also creative as are the arrangements which have a strong originality whilst always being rooted in country music. The harmonized vocals between Jebbh and Red, are excellent and in some ways evoke the classic 'brother' acts whilst their songwriting actually has more of a contemporary country structure but thanks to their inventive arrangements those songs are given a strong uniqueness.
And so to a few of the randomly selected songs, starting with the second track, Imaginary cowboy. Percussion, bass and guitars get the song underway soon joined by the 'brothers' harmony vocals with steel guitar to the fore. As with the other songs on the album this is a country song but the usage and balance of the instrumentation, whilst perfectly suited to the song, is pleasingly different to that used by anyone else on the scene. When you break everything down to its base elements the edgy experimentation that gives them their unique quality is achieved perfectly naturally and disguises the fact that they are genuinely, at source, a 'country band!' On Hey there Josephine a gentle guitar, banjo and steel guitar gets the song going supported by an unusual percussion along with the usual excellent brother harmonies on a song that with a different arrangement, as with most on the album, would be a 'classic country and western' song. There are various changes and breaks in the song that give it several changed perspectives. Acoustic guitars, booming bass and percussion support the 'brothers' excellent harmonic vocals on Out this way, another excellent, atmospheric song. It is a composition that is unusual in its construction but it's difficult to work out where that unusual feel comes from. When you break the sound down the vocals and instrumentation all appear to be pretty contemporary with nothing too different but when all of those elements are put together they create a totally unique impression, some of which may be created by the balance of the instruments. Finally, The high road has an intro that slowly fades in with a strange otherworldliness that could easily lead into a Grateful Dead performance, that is until the harmonic vocals come in soon joined by the spooky steel guitar as the sound gradually solidifies and deepens creating a completely natural psychedelic effect that even has an improvisational feel at times on the albums lengthiest song by some distance, four minutes!
I'm still not sure that even I'm convinced by everything I've written above but I am sure I love the album. After numerous plays I'm still getting to grips with this recording despite the fact that the tempo changes are few, the vocal harmonies never seem to change in texture and there are no solo vocals. Add to that the fact that the songs flow and segue beautifully on this recording that clocks in at a little over half an hour and yet it still reveals more with each listen, something I suspect it will continue to do far into the future. My suggestion is that you buy this album and then work your way back through the previous four, in fact such is the addictive nature of the Mixus Brothers music that if you listen to this I don't think you will have much choice other than to do that!
https://themixusbrothers.bandcamp.com/
From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this is the fifth full length album release by the highly gifted Mixus Brothers, a band that has a core of the two founder members, with various friends helping out both live and on record. If you think the name 'Mixus' is unusual you probably won't be surprised to learn that is not actually their real name and as is so often the case with 'brother' bands they are also not siblings although they most definitely are brothers in a musical sense!
It's strange how we interpret sounds but this album most certainly falls within the broad scope of country music although it has the feel to me of a genre that is new, prog. country perhaps? I know progressive country already exists but I'm not describing it as progressive in that sense; this album is prog, at least to me, in a more prog rock sense! Splitting hairs? I don't really think so. 'Progressive country' was very much a 1970s label that was invented to cover numerous artists who brought something new to country, such as the 'outlaws,' Willie, Waylon, Kris and many others and is still used to describe myriad artists who update the 'classic country' genre (or genres?). The sense that I'm trying to describe the Mixus Brothers in is more related to early 70s 'prog. rock,' when experimentation and pushing the boundaries of rock music to what seemed to be the limits, at least, at that time, although we now know differently. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these Mixus boys are a prog rock band; very far from it, but they do seem to approach country music with that attitude rather than gently developing the tradition.
The core of the band consists of Jebbh Mixus on vocals, guitars and banjos with Red Mixus also handling vocals with percussion and guitars. Keith "Cletus" Reed plays bass, Rich "Waldo" Gibson plays pedal steel, dobro and guitar, whilst Jed "Sonny" Dixon plays banjo on several tracks. Whilst they differ in most ways their approach to country music reminds me of the long defunct and sorely missed by me, 'Cowboy Nation,' in terms of individuality and a large dose of originality whilst not straying over the outer boundaries of 'country music.' The band themselves have described their sound as 'ranging from Bluegrass and Alt-Country Rock to Indie-folk and Psych-folk,' a description that is difficult to argue with on most levels, although I can't say I hear that much bluegrass, but as with most country sub genres there are elements of many genres in their music. Perhaps, on reflection, I should have picked on 'psych country' as a more appropriate, snappy, description but we are still left with the fact that there is that almost cinematic, expansive texture to their songs, all of which are built on memorable melodies and a 'high lonesome' atmosphere that is perhaps where the 'bluegrass' description comes from. So many of the twelve songs, most only clocking in at two to three minutes in length, have an epic, cinematic quality that belies their brevity and again makes this band unique.
All of the playing is not only excellent but also creative as are the arrangements which have a strong originality whilst always being rooted in country music. The harmonized vocals between Jebbh and Red, are excellent and in some ways evoke the classic 'brother' acts whilst their songwriting actually has more of a contemporary country structure but thanks to their inventive arrangements those songs are given a strong uniqueness.
And so to a few of the randomly selected songs, starting with the second track, Imaginary cowboy. Percussion, bass and guitars get the song underway soon joined by the 'brothers' harmony vocals with steel guitar to the fore. As with the other songs on the album this is a country song but the usage and balance of the instrumentation, whilst perfectly suited to the song, is pleasingly different to that used by anyone else on the scene. When you break everything down to its base elements the edgy experimentation that gives them their unique quality is achieved perfectly naturally and disguises the fact that they are genuinely, at source, a 'country band!' On Hey there Josephine a gentle guitar, banjo and steel guitar gets the song going supported by an unusual percussion along with the usual excellent brother harmonies on a song that with a different arrangement, as with most on the album, would be a 'classic country and western' song. There are various changes and breaks in the song that give it several changed perspectives. Acoustic guitars, booming bass and percussion support the 'brothers' excellent harmonic vocals on Out this way, another excellent, atmospheric song. It is a composition that is unusual in its construction but it's difficult to work out where that unusual feel comes from. When you break the sound down the vocals and instrumentation all appear to be pretty contemporary with nothing too different but when all of those elements are put together they create a totally unique impression, some of which may be created by the balance of the instruments. Finally, The high road has an intro that slowly fades in with a strange otherworldliness that could easily lead into a Grateful Dead performance, that is until the harmonic vocals come in soon joined by the spooky steel guitar as the sound gradually solidifies and deepens creating a completely natural psychedelic effect that even has an improvisational feel at times on the albums lengthiest song by some distance, four minutes!
I'm still not sure that even I'm convinced by everything I've written above but I am sure I love the album. After numerous plays I'm still getting to grips with this recording despite the fact that the tempo changes are few, the vocal harmonies never seem to change in texture and there are no solo vocals. Add to that the fact that the songs flow and segue beautifully on this recording that clocks in at a little over half an hour and yet it still reveals more with each listen, something I suspect it will continue to do far into the future. My suggestion is that you buy this album and then work your way back through the previous four, in fact such is the addictive nature of the Mixus Brothers music that if you listen to this I don't think you will have much choice other than to do that!
https://themixusbrothers.bandcamp.com/