Just Mustard - Frank/October
Dundalk, Ireland’s post-punk/shoegaze outfit Just Mustard will drop Frank/October, a two-track EP, on June 1.
Just Mustard
Recorded at Start Together Studios, the EP was produced by the band and Chris Ryan, mixed by Ryan, and mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio in New York City.
In 2018, the band released their debut LP, Wednesday, with little fanfare. Still, the album received beau coup praise from music critics, going on to be nominated as album of the year in 2018’s Choice Music Prize.
Comprising David Noonan (guitar, vocals), Katie Ball (vocals), Mete Kalyon (guitar), Shane Maguire (drums) and Rob Clarke (bass), Just Mustard’s sound blends shoegaze, noise rock, and trip-hop savors into dark, intense soundscapes, simultaneously calming and disconcerting.
Speaking with Fader about the video for “Frank,” Ball said, “We thought it would be interesting to use stop motion animation to emphasize the broken rhythms of the song. Every character and prop in the video and their interactions represents a different musical or thematic element of the song to us. We wrote and directed it together as a band and collaborated with filmmaker Tim Shearwood who shot and edited it.”
It’s a searing, blistering voice traveling on clipped plangent tones.
“Frank” opens on an eerie droning synth, followed by Ball’s tight, sing-song voice entering. An austere yet potent rhythm of crunching drums and a fat bass line give the tune a visceral grind. Oozing, glaring synth colors ride in the backdrop, infusing the music with stridency and surging tension. The hum and flow of the melody delivers raw textures, as well as terse dream-like intonations.
A brief bass-filled breakdown heralds shimmering, discordant wall-of-sound surfaces, rippling and pitching with stark brilliance and industrial timbres.
Ball’s voice, both fierce and deliciously piercing, imbues the lyrics with wicked sonic turbulence and flavors. It’s a searing, blistering voice traveling on clipped plangent tones.
Best lyrics include: "I watch TV to fall asleep” and “I can fly in my dreams."
With “Frank,” Just Mustard offers up music akin to a complex of titanic ruins, raw and almost shrill, that’s tumescent with enormity.
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