Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns: Partly Pandemonium, Partly Love
When a band’s sound is described as “Uncle Tupelo and the Afghan Whigs got in a bar fight with Tom Waits over a joint,” you know it is going to be an eclectic mix of awesome. Described as both “alt-country” and “Appalachian rock,” Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns definitely bring the best of both sounds together in what I can only describe as a twangy, gritty, rock n roll band with a little bit of punk and soul.
Longtime friends, Matt Mullins, Bill Fraley, Dylan McInturff and Stuart Hill have played in various bands over the years in their home state of West Virginia. Their friendship and love of music brought them together to help Matt record his first solo record back in 2015. What ended up happening was something more special than any of them realized at the time. They decided to turn the solo album into a group project and released their first record, Family.Music.Beer in August of 2016. Besides the excitement of having their first record pressed in vinyl, they decided to do something a little different for their vinyl release party. Instead of playing live, they asked local independent artists to make a video for each song on the record. Those videos were then debuted at the release party and each filmmaker got to introduce their video and discuss the creative and technical process behind it. Artist helping other artists. I love these guys.
Photo By John Lyons Photography
The latest album, “Partly Pandemonium, Partly Love,” out for release on April 10, 2020, is the most perfect album title they could have come up with. While I don’t know how they came up with the title, the songs on the record are truly a mix of pandemonium and love.
I heard the first single “Best Version of Myself” last year and was immediately excited to hear what else the band had in store. The track alternates between a clap-along type anthem, to an almost Sunday morning gospel experience. Lyrics like, “No-one can stop persistence as our history has read. A strong will can shine like gold and heavier than lead” can have multiple meanings to different people, but really stood out to me while listening. The other highlight of this great song was hearing the organ played by none other than Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers.
The next single, “Wish You Well”, was primarily written by bass player, Bill Fraley. It is an ode to the relationship that you know needs to end, but yet is so hard to end for whatever reason. And while the lyrics, “I wish you well, now go to hell” repeat during the song, the music keeps it from being just an angry song. It seems more like a cathartic moment... you know this thing is over and you want the best for that person, but you also just really want them to go away.
Both of these releases were accompanied by amazing videos directed and produced by Jason Lockart of Kid In The Background, Inc.
When I finally got the full album to listen to, I did what I always do. I immediately put it on and listened from start to finish. But after that, I kept going back to the first track. “This Mountain” is a killer way to open up an album. It starts out sort of laid back and bluesy, and then just kicks in with nothing but pure rock and Stuart’s incredible slide guitar. Matt’s voice ranges from raspy and soul-drenched, to almost an angry growl, while singing about how he “can’t wait for the other side of this mountain to fall.” The lyrics tell the tale of Matt’s grandparents and many others, who worked their whole lives to own their holler in the West Virginia mountains. “Now I grew up with a coal mine in my front yard. Well I never thought it was all gonna wind up so hard” sums up the feeling of the song for me. It is a raw and real song about life in Appalachia. Not only is “The Mountain” my favorite song on the record, it might be my favorite song of the year so far.
The song called “Debbie,” written by Matt, is a fun, country-ish rocker about the dynamic between a mom and her trouble-making son. From singing “why do you tell me what to do?” to “Thank you Debbie, it all seems so messy. Glad you tell me what to do,” you know for sure that he is grateful for his mom’s voice of reason, even though he may not seem to be.
“Never Been A Saint” is the other song written primarily by Bill Fraley. According to Matt, Bill wrote it years ago and asked Matt to add something to it. The result is Matt’s favorite song on the album. This one definitely has the perfect twangy sound of a country song, but is still pure rock n roll. My favorite line in the song, which also is a nod to one of Bill’s musical influences, is “You see I’m a man with hard liquor running through his veins. It’s just like ole Isbell says, we ain’t never gonna change.”
Partly Pandemonium, Partly Love has 11 tracks total and every single one is a winner. There is even the spoken word “The (Intro),” which flows into “Nature Boy,” which is a tribute to wrestler Ric Flair. Now, I am not a superfan of wrasslin’, but apparently Mr. Mullins is. What we end up hearing is a brilliant and hilarious song about the “jet plane flying, limousine riding, golden haired son of a bitch.” The last song on the album is a fantastic cover of Uncle Tupelo’s song “I Got Drunk.”
This record has a little bit of everything and has, without a doubt, become one of my favorites. I highly suggest you give it a listen, whether you are a country, Americana, or rock fan. And hopefully one day when we can all gather again, I will finally be able to see Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns live. That will be a glorious day.
