Having gained a massive thumbs up from Louder Than War (review here) for their Two Tonne Testimony album – out on 24 March – we can now present an exclusive stream of the whole album by Miraculous Mule ahead of release to whet the appetite even more.
Add to that an exclusive track by track guide from Michael J Sheehy from Miraculous Mule, written especially for Louder Than War, it makes for a real Miraculous Mule Fest.
Listen to the stream here:
Miraculous Mule: Two Tonne Testimony – Track by Track by Michael J Sheehy
Holy Fever
A song about religious hysteria. One would think in allegedly enlightened times that we would see the decline of blind faith and superstition but it seems to be more prevalent than ever whether it is expressed through the bigotry of far right Christian fundamentalists or terrorists waging war under the banner of Islam. We’ve come at it from a rather basic angle: a young man trying to get in his girlfriends pants who finds himself cock-blocked by Christ himself!
Shave ’em Dry!
This was inspired by Elijah Wald’s excellent book on The Dozens – the African-American verbal tradition of toasting, boasting and cussing each other out. The Dozens’ thread runs throughout the blues, R&B and Hip-Hop and essentially this is a song about the power of words to hurt and maim; the pen is often mightier than the Kalashnikov when it comes to taking the high and mighty down. The song takes its title from Lucille Bogan’s 1930s song of the same name.
Sound of the Summer
A psychedelic-soul inflected stomper which takes a well-worn music industry clichè and turns it on its head. Taking its cues from Hendrix and the Isley Brothers the song begins as a paean to long joyous sunny days and hot sticky nights before morphing into something a little darker, i.e. burning, looting, the death of protest and the rise of the police state.
Where Monsters Lead
Written as a response to the rise of the far-right throughout the UK and Europe two years ago and the ubiquity of unsavoury characters such as Farage and Trump. With the wave of fear, confusion and hatred that has been unleashed following recent events in the UK and the recent race for the White House in the States the song couldn’t be more prescient.
Daddy Grace
Marcelino Manuel da Graça, better known as Charles Manuel “Sweet Daddy” Grace, or Daddy Grace, inspired this one. I was reading about James Brown and how Daddy Grace was a big inspiration to him. It also ties in with the themes of ‘Where Monsters Lead’ and ‘Holy Fever’; (mis)leaders who claim to have all the answers but are really only out for their own personal gain.
Two Tonne Testimony
Rock ‘n’ Roll teems with artists who’ve changed their names, self-mythologised and made up barely believable back stories. Here Sheehy spins a roller coaster yarn casting himself as a gun-running, drug-dealing, porn-peddling son of Satan who wanders a world populated by gun-toting outlaw relatives and a religious cult that commits mass suicide.
They Cut, We Bleed
Inspired by one of the anti-austerity slogans that has been doing the rounds ‘They Cut, We Bleed’ aims both barrels squarely at the political establishment that decided the poorest in society had to bear the weight of a banking crisis they didn’t cause. Worst of all these cunts ordered the poor to tighten their belts while they continued to fight proxy wars abroad and prop up the failing banks who continued to pay their CEOs huge bonuses.
The Fear
It’s easy to be frightened in these troubling times, this song tells how a fierce kind of love can overcome fear.
We Know About Cha.
Within reason we are firm believers of “do what thou wilt” and “live and let live” Unless you are a politician or religious leader telling others how to live their lives while privately indulging your every perversion. If there is a hell we hope the hottest corner is reserved for these fuckers.
Blues Uzi (The Reprisal)
The character from Two Tonne Testimony is still wandering through a black and blue surrealistic nightmare pursued across the bleak landscape by a troubled past, gangsters and his own demons to a psychedelic-dub-blues soundtrack forged in Hell’s own recording studio.
Catch Miraculous Mule live:
23 March: The Water Rats, London (Album Launch w/ Swampmother and Jim Jones DJ set)
2 April: The Bell Inn, Bath (afternoon show!)
6 May: The Grove, Leeds
7 May: The Blues Bar, Harrogate (afternoon show!)
13 May: The Bank Eye, Suffolk
In bleak and desperate times, there is always light in the darkness.
That is perhaps the undercurrent of Miraculous Mule.
There is always hope. There is always beauty.
Remember that.
~
You can find Miraculous Mule online here.
They are also on Facebook and tweet as @MIRACULOUSMULE
The post Miraculous Mule: Two Tonne Testimony – exclusive album stream appeared first on Louder Than War.
