The Mumlers – Don’t Throw Me Away [Album Review]

During my 3 1/2 years in the Silicon Valley, The Mumlers were the only bright spot in a non-existent music scene. San Francisco is thriving and Santa Cruz has a decent thing going on, but in between lies a barren musical wasteland of towns like San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto. Despite having the music scene card stacked against them in their home town, The Mumlers have released a pleasant surprise with their sophomore album Don’t Throw Me Away.

The California six-piece mixes soul, folk and alt-country sounds into a sound that would be better suited for a stupor in The Big Easy or a drunken Jazz Funeral. The Mumlers’ instrumentation, including guitars, drums, upright bass, various keyboards, euphonium, french horn, trumpet, clarinet, tambourine and pedal steel, culminates in a punch drunk cacophony of sound that will turn your world into one of those old sepia tone silent movies, where you’ll stagger from one speakeasy to the next at an awkward, old-timey movie reel fast pace.

Standout tracks include “Tangled Up With You,” “99 Years Ago” (bonus points for mentioning the state of Ohio), the title track, and the boisterous “Coffin Factory.” I attempted to see the band twice in the bay area, but both venues (Red Rock Coffee Shop in Mountain View and The Blank Club in San Jose) completely devastated the experience with poor sound quality. I walked out of both shows halfway through The Mumlers third song, but those experiences have done nothing to diminish my appreciation for Don’t Throw Me Away. I look forward to catching them at a proper venue.

Website | MySpace

The Mumlers – Tangled Up With You

Video: The Mumlers – Coffin Factory