Muzz’s new self-titled LP is the group’s very first and is comprised of three accomplished musicians who have spent their time in various rock circles. Paul Banks (vocals) is the lead singer of Interpol, Matt Barrick (drums) was the drummer for The Walkmen, and Josh Kaufman the multi-instrumentalist who has produced for The National, Josh Ritter, The War on Drugs, and Bob Weir.
Banks notes that Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Leonard Cohen are some of the trio’s overlapping influences that lead to the making of Muzz. These influences are heard and felt all throughout Muzz and each song features the very timelessness that still compels us to spin a Dylan, Young, or Cohen record. Muzz reflects on the past, yet it still pushes forward and embarks on new sonics that appears simple, sparse, and airy, yet still guide the listener through the abstractions that have been presented. Muzz is the brainchild of three indie veterans whose collective experiences individually culminate and mesh to form a casual sound that is concurrently intimate—yet distant.
The vocals that Banks provides nicely situate over the lushness that Kaufman creates over the course of this album, at some points, Banks’ voice features the same familiar apathetic quality to his dark tone in Interpol. On Red Western Sky” these similarities are especially prevalent, minus the angst of a lonely night dwelling twentysomething is replaced by an equally lonely cowboy riding over a vast red plane—straight out of a Cormac McCarthy novel. On “Evergreen,” the beginning of the song starts with Kaufman holding a note on the organ and then Banks sings “I stole away from my house/There’s fires in here”. A guitar that resembles the sound of a synthesized digeridoo harmonizes with Banks’s voice. “Evergreen”holds a spacey atmospheric tone until Kaufman’s guitar interrupts and Banks brazenly sings, “One medication/One thing to bring you over”.
Muzz employs a range of instruments and musical talents throughout the album—such as the brass quartet, The Westerlies. On “All is Dead to Me”, The Westerlies coordinate with the ups and downs of Banks’ voice. Trumpets and Banks’ voice climb in unison to the climactic crescendo, “All is dead to me/Cause they never read to me”. The Westerlies are also featured on the outro, “Trinidad”, the final track off Muzz is casual and confident—it’s a nightcap of whiskey in a lonely cowboy bar. In true lonely cowboy fashion, Kaufman plays a slide guitar that charms Banks’ vocals.
Muzz is a familiar culmination of previous individual sounds that mesh well together, but Muzz not only blends influences, but they also undertake new sonics to further push the progressiveness of the project. Muzz is nuanced in how it shifts from intimacy to defamiliarization, this indie gray area riffs off the familiar and transforms it into something entirely new.
