REVIEW: New Mongrels – ‘Raised Incorruptible’

Artist: New Mongrels
Album: Raised Incorruptible
Genre: Folk, Americana

With a history unlike that of any other band, the 13-member ensemble known as New Mongrels have a brand new 14-track effort for us to absorb and it’s chock full of multi-instrumental folk goodness and beautiful melodies. With influenced sounds that span many decades, fans of earlier folk-rock acts like Jim Croce and CSNY can easily appreciate New Mongrels’ efforts on Raised Incorruptible just as much as fans of more recent acts in the genre like Fleet Foxes and Typhoon.

The album opens with “Time,” a female-led folk track that oddly reminds me initially of “Autumn’s Monologue,” featured on From Autumn To Ashes’ 2003 effort, The Fiction We Live. This is likely due solely to the vocalist’s voice sounding similar to that of Melanie Wills’ along with the inflections in her delivery as well. Once the song hits the :17 mark, though, it really begins to evolve more with vocal layers before branching into a more instrumental effort where violin and background horns are introduced amongst the acoustic guitar and light drumming. Without even moving beyond the first offering on Raised Incorruptible, it’s curious as to why this band isn’t far more known than they currently are.

The title track in particular is one of the first that really have a sort of timeless feel with huge influences from the 60s and 70s. The male/female vocal layers and melodies are one of the album’s strongest aspects throughout its entirety but they really shine on “Raised Incorruptible.” Beyond that though, you would hope that with 13 various members in the band that you would get some truly inventive and skillful musicianship, and luckily, you do. Incorporating all the instruments typically fashioned for folk and then some, there’s an excellent array of sounds and the arrangements in which they’re used are both impressive and enjoyable even if not always entirely novel.

“Freedom,” the album’s midpoint, is the first real taste of true change from the tracks before it that generally stuck to standard structures. Boasting bigger gang-vocal choruses, and even more instruments it seems, “Freedom” works its way into your head with its infectious hooks and will leave you singing it to yourself with or without the source. “Heal My Heart” is another example of the variations that the band explores on the album even if rarely. It’s quite possibly the track that feels the most out of place in the whole of Raised Incorruptible as far as structure. Reverting back to a somewhat standard structure though is “Seems,” which stands out as one of the album’s strongest efforts, reminiscent of excellent acts like First Aid Kit, and proves that even when the band takes a simple approach, they are in control of their craft and produce impressive results. “Seems” is one great example of how their vocals and instrumentation mesh so well.

The album wraps up with a short but oh-so-sweet note in “Tuborg Gold,” an entirely instrumental effort featuring piano and trumpet that would serve well as a beautiful scene in a film’s score and maybe better on the album as an intermission of sorts. It’s less than two and a half minutes in length but regardless of placement it ends the album nicely with a kind of melancholic vibe that doesn’t necessarily make you feel sad.

New Mongrels have brought a lot to the table with Raised Incorruptible, and maybe even a little too much. Even though the album contains 14 tracks, it never feels too long but there are a small handful of tracks that I feel the album could have done without. The cohesion is interrupted slightly at times with certain cuts that stray just a tad too far from what the vast majority of the album seems to stick to (save for “Freedom”), and that structure that occupies most of the album is one of the best things it has going for it. The ability to take a somewhat simple layout and spice it up with various instruments and vocal layers really works for New Mongrels as it never feels over-complicated or cluttered but has a nice even flow throughout. I’d like to maybe see fewer songs with more focus and care given to each on the band’s next effort as I feel that they really deserve much more attention for what they’re creating but a slightly tighter release could really do them wonders.

SCORE: 7.4/10
Review written by: Brian Lion — (Follow him on Twitter)

Brian Leak
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