Muggs 2023
Perfectly marinated rock ‘n’ roll with hard veneer to bounce one’s lust for life off of.
Autobiograffitti
Maybe it would be unfair to attribute the plethora of projects Tony Muggs is involved in, often almost simultaneously, to the heightened sense of mortality the Detroit denizen acquired a quarter-century ago, after suffering a stroke. Perhaps, doing so would amount to cheapening his talents as a singer, a keyboard player and an overall top-notch performer. Still, the Michigander’s listeners can only feel astounded by the variety of style his different endeavors demonstrate – yet there’s a common denominator to everything Tony does: his joie de vivre, which the songs gathered on the sophomore album from this band of Muggs’ define most perfectly. Recorded between 2017 and 2022 but held back to coincide with the publishing of his book the platter shares the title with, they may not exactly provide soundtrack to the paper pages; however, the eleven pieces on offer provide an insight into their writer’s mind and soul.
What such gusto-filled numbers as the boogieing “Ahh Geez Louise” and the bluegrass-tinctured “Devil’s In My Whiskey (Once Again)” do is deploy classic rock ‘n’ roll template, patented in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and give it a tasty crust to pack a powerful punch and push the audience on to the dancefloor. And if cutting a rug to the effervescent likes of opener “Big Star” or the slider-caressed “Mary Mary (Quite Controversial)” – that starts with an appropriate clacking of typewriter – will seem a tad tricky, their pop melodies are too infectious to try and resist. With ivories glimmering and guitars blazing, crunchy rhythm-and-blues figures drive vocal harmonies on “You Are So Wonder” to heavenly heights, while the handclaps-helped “My Puppy Dog Eyes” draws on heavy riffs to underpin the glam-tinted, airy arrangement, and the equally psyched-up “Red Coat For Sale” goes for a cosmic jugular. Offsetting the vigor of these tracks, the translucent, wondrously sluggish “Own The Day” – where echoes of “Moonlight Sonata” lurk – and “Tomorrow Is Promised To No One” display sublime balladry, but “Swallow The Sun” and “Blue Canary” access cinematic vividness via sophisticated lysergic effects and arresting groove as much as through arresting tunes.
Ain’t perfect, “Autobiograffitti” is simply life-affirming.
****
