Floridian heavy rock four-piece The Electric Mud will issue their second album, Burn the Ships, on Sept. 25 via the multinational consortium of Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz. The unit, who of course take their moniker from Muddy Waters‘ 1968 “rock” album, Electric Mud (discussed here), offered their debut, Bull Gator, in 2018 and found themselves dug into a bayou of heavy blues rock, a classic-style inflection in their tone and presentation that one imagine perked up the ears of Small Stone perhaps like a next-generation Five Horse Johnson, and after posting a video for “First Murder on Mars” with the announcement of the release, they have a new lyric video for “A Greater Evil” premiering now.

Usually when it comes to Small Stone stuff, the opening track is posted first, then another one or two down the line ahead of the release. Why all the videos for The Electric Mud? Well, when the band has already put the album out, you kind of have to take a different approach. It was last August that the The Electric Mud had Burn the Ships set to go, but frankly, when you hook up with two ultra-established, brand-name heavy imprints to give your record a proper release across two continents and multiple physical formats, it seems like maybe that’s worth pulling said record down from your Bandcamp — for a little while, at least. Cheers to The Electric Mud on that one, by the way.

As for the magic formula that got them there, look no further than the not-so-mysterious alchemy that is songwriting, performance and production. The recording is modern but organic, the pace is uptempo but not harried, and though the lyrics of “A Greater Evil” take a social stance — from 2019! ah, simpler times! — they seem to purposefully do so through storytelling rather than soapbox-style opining. Comprised of guitarists Constantine Grim and Peter Kolter (the latter also vocals), bassist Tommy Scott and drummer Pierson Whicker, the band tap into a heavy rock vibe that feels natural and maybe even straightforward, but is still remarkably difficult to pull off without falling flat. If the endorsements behind them — i.e., the label logos on Burn the Ships — don’t speak of their not-fallen-flat three-dimensional status, then surely “A Greater Evil” itself will.

Thus, have at it, and enjoy:

The Electric Mud, “A Greater Evil” lyric video premiere

The Electric Mud on “A Greater Evil”:

‘A Greater Evil’ represents a bit of a progression in our sound. Between the four of us we listen to just about everything, and you can really hear some of those unexpected influences coming out the more we write together.

Crawling from the humid, mangrove-choked banks of the Caloosahatche River, THE ELECTRIC MUD drifted from late night jam sessions, backyard keggers, and a revolving cast of members until one night, in the taproom of a closed up brewery, Peter Kolter, Pierson Whicker, Tommy Scott, and Constantine Grim found themselves in an old fashioned Morricone-style standoff. THE ELECTRIC MUD released its debut album, Bull Gator, in 2018, and hit the road.

With hard work came opportunity that found the band opening not just for Southern rock legends such as Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, The Devon Allman Band, Brother Hawk, and others but also winning a tri-state battle of the bands competition that drew the eye of Matt Washburn owner/operator of Ledbelly Sound Studio (Mastodon, Elder, Royal Thunder) in north Georgia. Washburn and the band hit it off immediately, and the band decamped to The Peach State in 2019 to write and record its follow up album, falling in along the way with the legendary Small Stone Records.

Following an independent unveiling by the band, Burn The Ships will see official release on CD and digital formats via Small Stone as well as limited edition vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz. For preorders, visit the Small Stone Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION.

THE ELECTRIC MUD:
Constantine Grim – guitar
Pierson Whicker – drums, percussion
Peter Kolter – vocals, guitar
Tommy Scott – bass

The Electric Mud, “First Murder on Mars” official video

The Electric Mud website

The Electric Mud on Thee Facebooks

The Electric Mud on Instagram

Small Stone Records website

Small Stone Records on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz website

Kozmik Artifactz on Thee Facebooks

Tags: Burn the Ships, Florida, Kozmik Artifactz, Small Stone Records, The Electric Mud, The Electric Mud Burn the Ships

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2020 at 6:39 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.