White Mud Free Way is an adventurous duo that subscribes to the kitchen sink school of indie rock. Their debut album is a collage of styles, sounds, and substances that almost works a charm. The only thing holding them back is a lack of truly memorable songs. That and the fact that much of the album lends itself far too easily to the kind of comparisons that make writing about records too easy. For example "Adele" is
Beck-lite stoner groove mixed with trip-hop atmospheres, "Tumbleweeds" is
Yo La Tengo tossed into a blender, "Near Star" is
Neko Case on steroids. That kind of nonsense. What saves the record from the sell pile is the sense of sonic adventurism that Terence Bernardo brings. He is never keen to let too much time pass before doing something strange and interesting like the cheesy synsonic drums and canned "yeah" and "kick it" exhortations on "Bar Code," the glittering electronics that spruce up "Mercury," the wacky guitars and garbled samples on "Painkiller," the weirdly EQed vocals and vocal harmonies on "Sneeze." It is at moments like this that the record starts to sound like something special. There are enough moments (and a good straightforward song or two like "Mr. Messenger" or the dusty "Headless Body in a Topless Bar") to make this a record indie rock fans might want to check out. They won't blow your mind, but you will have to spend some time exploring the nooks and crannies of Last Year's Junk, and sometimes that is enough. ~ Tim Sendra