Mutt’s Company isn’t wasting time. Ultimate newcomers, the Danish quartet is under a year old and already leaving its imprint on the Copenhagen music scene with its trippy concoction of dreamy psychedelic rock, hearkening back to a time – and a place – far removed from its own.
The band’s first EP, Jump Ship, is spiked with shrieking licks, catchy lyrics (in English), and a sound that may be just a tad too commercial. Taking the baton from fellow contemporaries like Dr. Dog, Mutt’s Company is the type of accessible psychedelic rock that bridges the gap between modern rock and legends – before jumping off said bridge.
The mellow groove of “Winterworn” lulls the listener to hypnosis before screaming guitars rip away in desperate and urgent wake-up call. Meanwhile, the aptly titled “Ghost Song,” featuring the timeless combination of vocal and acoustic guitar, is chilling with its Jack-In-The-Box guitar wails setting a tone that’s pretty, well, ghostly.
Jump Ship is, however, not without its sweet moments. One would expect “Country Song” to include at least one keystone of the genre; a slide guitar, a fiddle, even a banjo. Something. But this tune evokes something far simpler and dearer with its bouncy tambourine and its urge to “throw every map on the fire / we’ll write a Bible of our very own.” The infectious melody will be stuck in my head for weeks, a welcome replacement for Mumford and Sons’ “Home.”
Though Mutt’s Company’s instrumentation is, at best, traditional, the foundation for the future here is solid. The lyrics betray a loss of innocence, a desire to know oneself, and a youthful hope for what is to come. Judging from Jump Ship, these young Danes have much to be hopeful for.
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