Miraculous Mule - Deep Fried (2017) Hi-Res

Mule always works... I thought to myself when Miraculous Mule's debut album. As it soon became clear, "Deep Fried" is the most unusual musical experience.

The music is as paradoxical as the title, whimsical - as the band's name suggests - always so. Gospel meets routine music, alternating between blues and Americana. And as if all that wasn't enough to confuse them, they throw in flawless fifties rock and roll ("Satisfied") or even a jam-packed blues monster à la Cream ("Prettiest Train"). At the latest after "Early In The Mornin'", the question of genius or madness arises again. This number sounds like a clone of Johnny Wakelin, Carl Douglas ("Huhh! Hahh!!") and Mississippi Fred McDowell, all stoned with a "royal mix" of five 20s Valium, Shake 'em On Down and John The Revelator. "Slightly" different "blues"...

And that blues is also the glue that holds the explosive Miraculous Mule mix together. It's definitely not about that sometimes boring, traditionally old-fashioned stuff, but rather the radical minimalist approach of blues avant-garde artists like GravelRoad, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, or even the Juke Joint Pimps.
A completely wacky product like the "wonderful mule" can probably only appear in a cultural melting pot like London. The trio unearths the crow roots of the blues with quirky anarchic British wit. Two seemingly incompatible worlds meet here. You can perceive the result of "Deep Fried" either as a "musical big bang" or as a "shot in the oven" - this is no less exciting activity, probably, will not leave anyone indifferent.

The fact that MM's mastermind Michael J. Sheehy has an extremely refreshing relationship with blues rock has already been on display at Rockpalast. A few years ago he rocked the Bonn Harmony with his "The Hired Mourners" (divine: "The Ballad of the Angry Apostle"), but...
With Miraculous Mule, the London Irishman takes the blues one step further, reducing the blues even more to its roots in the Mississippi swamps and embellishing it with a huge dose of gospel. Unusual headlines like "Headed Woman" or "I'm a Soldier" are results that cannot be squeezed into any of the usual schemes. The instrumentation is very crude, spartan and uncompromising. Here, many "aesthetics" gnaw the notorious tooth.

Besides the very jammy power blues of "Prettiest Train", I like Blind Willie Johnson's cover of "Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Crying" which is very rooty and inspired by Sixteen Horsepower Far Distance. Best.
For "Deep Fried" you must muster up the courage to be ready and willing to experiment with both hands. Miraculous Mule is the right address for those who want to try offbeat tones off the beaten path. However, I can well imagine that this "wonderful" mixture is too strong a thing for some friends ...