Sunday 29th March 2009 @ The Polish Club, Bristol
Performing Alongside: Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power

The Balky Mule is the brainchild of Bristolian post-rocker now residing in Australia, Sam Jones. Through The Bulky Mule, Jones creates textured DIY chamber pop and for tonight’s home-coming gig, Jones strips away the multi-layered complexity of his new album The Length Of The Rail in order to expose its pop core. The plethora of instruments and experimental electronics are replaced by the simplicity of a traditional three-piece band, who although a little loose, recreate the chaotic charm of Jones’ musical palette.

Both Wireless and Range with their gentle melodic tugs stand out, being characteristic of Jones’ warm sound. It is however when Jones appears unaccompanied on stage to close his set that the quality of his work impacts fully. He delivers a string of poignant vignettes over a loosely-strummed guitar demonstrating a fragility that is wonderfully affecting. The Balky Mule stumbles within pop’s airiness, evoking the warmth of human life.

Elf Power take to the stage next and deliver their idiosyncratic psychedelic pop with a tightness and impressive musicality. The heady and complex textures of their albums are in the main recreated in a sharp and pleasurable turn.

Then it comes to Vic Chesnutt, an artist who has throughout his career inspired and worked alongside the highest calibre of musicians, including Cowboy Junkies and REM. Tonight, he performs a number of tracks from Dark Developments, his most recent collaboration with Elf Power. Songs such as the stripped down, mournful shuffle of The Mad Passion Of The Stoic are tempered by the obscure delight of Bilocating Dog. Alongside material from Dark Developments, Chesnutt performs tracks from his impressive back catalogue including Old Hotel from The Salesman and Bernadette. The track, which he recorded with Lambchop, is mesmerising with its cacophony of plaintive wails and fuzzed guitar tones.

Chesnutt’s vocal power and schizophrenic guitar work is consistently matched by Elf Power who are both an appreciative and intelligent foil. They create layers of musical drama and tension for his profound lyrics to ride atop. Throughout Chesnutt uses his voice like a weapon, sometimes a loud cathartic roar and other times he removes it from the aggressive pull of the microphone to hold a note that stabs directly at the heart. Chesnutt brings to song-writing a complete mastery of dynamics. He uses the mechanisms of pop to subvert and manipulate the listener, whilst his lyrics capture and frame human behaviour, simultaneously making it worthy of scorn and wonder. Just as he promised, Chesnutt kicks our arses tonight, just enough for it to hurt.

www.myspace.com/thebalkymule

Tom Spooner