The Mutts take the stage surrounded by the flashing of strobes and plumes of smoke. Obviously the band are pulling out the stops for their hometown show and don’t want to be upstaged by the Warlocks. The first thing that hits you is the sheer size of front man Chris, looking like Jim Morrision after a few hours on the rack, he dwarfs the rest of the band. This should look stupid and shouldn’t work but they manage to pull it off. From the first note Chris takes on his rock ‘n’ roll frontman persona, body twitching with each note he forces out of his lungs. Whilst Chris is shredding his vocals out at the front and roaming frantically round the stage and in the crowd, their drummer is almost a second frontman with his Keith Moon-erisms whilst guitarist Brain cranks out some of the best rock ‘n’ roll guitar I’ve heard in a long time.
Coming off like the Stooges fronted by Morrison, the Mutts may sometimes seem a little obvious but there is something about them which captures my attention every time I seem them. Whether its just that they put on a good show, whether its Chris’s unpredictability (example: their first gig in Camden which saw their singer walking out of the room during the first song gleefully banging away on his tambourine) or maybe it’s just the songs. Their sludgy rock sound captures something that many of the wannabe garage-rock pretenders miss, mainly tunes and passion.
Ok, I’ve seen the band a few times now, thought they were pretty great first time round and since then each gig I’ve witnessed has seen the band grow in confidence and stage presence. With a debut single on the horizon it won’t be long until these guys rip up a town near you, definitely ones to watch.
