Gov't Mule
By A Thread

THE REVIEW

Classifying Gov't Mule under a single label is becoming increasingly difficult over the years and albums. Initially starting as a pure raw and minimal Hard-blues group, they have over time incorporated so many influences into their sound that they have undoubtedly become one of the most original and surprising groups in the modern rock-blues scene.

Born in 1994, almost as a joke, today with the release of this important work, they can aspire to enter the ranks of the bands that "matter". Led by the tireless musician known as Warren Haynes, Gov't Mule releases what could be their best and most complete studio work. Often considered only a great live jam band, with these eleven new songs, they also validate their excellence as songwriters.

Warren Haynes seems unwilling to stop, and after his collaborations with the Allman Brothers, whom he helped revive in the 1990s, and his services at the court of the surviving Grateful Dead, it can be said that he has concentrated all his energies on Gov't Mule, effectively making it his main band. The album opens with "Broke Down On The Brazos," where Jorgen Carlsson's bass pushes hard and swift throughout the song, providing the backbone of the track upon which Haynes' guitar and special guest Billy Gibbons (ZZ TOP), delivering a splendid solo in the second half of the song, stand out. For this album, Gov't Mule seems to favor the song format, and although the average length of the tracks remains close to six minutes, the songs seem to benefit from this positively.

There is only one cover on the album, the traditional "Railroad Boy", a folk song rearranged in a rock style, highlighting the Irish-western aspect of the song. The remaining tracks are all the work of "the mules," such as the hard funk blues of "Steppen Lightly" and "Any Open Window" which would make the Purple of the Coverdale/Hughes era envious. In the lengthy "Monday Mourning Meltdown", the impressive technical skills of the quartet, completed by Matt Abts on drums and Danny Louis on keyboards and second guitar, become apparent. The long instrumental jams of the songs approach the complexity and tempo changes comparable to certain seventies progressive rock, and the jazzy insert confirms it. Echoes of Pink Floyd-like ballads emerge from "Gordon James", and it's no coincidence considering that Gov't Mule recently paid tribute to Pink Floyd in their live performances.

The guitar skills of Haynes, finally, come forcefully in tracks like the unconventional blues of "Inside Outside Woman Blues #3" with its odd tempos, while "Frozen Fear", with its almost Reggae rhythm, recalls the experiment of an album like "Mighty High" (2007).

A special mention goes to the splendid southern-tinged ballad "Forevermore". In short, an album that over its 67-minute length never falls into the predictable or into mere technique for its own sake. Every note has its reason, and the lyrics never fall into the trite. Praise, therefore, to Gov't Mule who have managed to revitalize a genre like rock-blues, enriching it with nuances and surprises and incorporating it perfectly with southern, soul, reggae, and funk without sounding trite and forced. Gov't Mule, even if not suitable for all ears, deserve a bit more than they have received so far, often relegated to second-tier by clone groups of the great seventies bands that manage to offer little or nothing original in their music.