CD Odyssey Disc 977: Mudcrutch

I was feeling out of sorts this week, but things started to come into focus today and I regained my joie de vivre. Long ago I learned that a half full glass just tastes better than a half empty one, but sometimes I forget. Today I remembered.

Disc 977 is…Mudcrutch 2

Artist: Mudcrutch

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? You talkin’ to me? It’s bear cub street fight! The grainy picture makes it look very old, and makes me think of a couple of Depression-era kids fighting over a dropped quarter or a half-loaf of bread.

How I Came To Know It: I bought the first Mudcrutch album and liked it. I didn’t know they had another one out until I saw it on the new release shelf at my local record store. I decided to take a chance.

How It Stacks Up:  I only have two Mudcrutch albums, but I think that’s all there is. Of the two, “Mudcrutch 2” is second.

Ratings: 3 stars

If the saying “you can never go back” was proved wrong by the original Mudcrutch album, the follow up record released eight years later proves you can even do it twice.

Mudcrutch is the original band of Tom Petty and two Heartbreakers (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) reunited with two of their original playing mates – Tom Leadon on guitar and Randall Marsh on drums. When you listen to it you can’t help but wonder if this is what they would have sounded like if they’d all been signed back when they first traveled to California for a record deal.

That sound is a lot like a Tom Petty record, which is mostly a testament to Petty’s incredible talent and force of will. He just makes the magic happen, and all his songwriting talents are on display here. The record is his trademark mix of southern rock, blues licks and anthems for the soul.

The addition of Marsh and Leadon give the record a bit of a university/indie rock feel, although that could just be me projecting my knowledge of the band’s history onto the songs. Then again, the one song written and sung by Marsh, “Beautiful World” had me thinking heavily of other oft-forgotten bands of yore like the Vulgar Boatmen. “Beautiful World” is a life affirming song that makes you wish you were driving in a convertible. It holds its own against the mostly Petty-fueled album, which is no easy feat.

Not so Leadon’s entry. “The Other Side of the Mountain” attempts to mix rock and roll with Americana folk (fueled by banjo and high harmonies) but it didn’t work for me. It lands halfway between the genres without pulling the right elements of each to sit there comfortably.

Mike Campbell’s single entry, “Victim of Circumstance” is better, with an up tempo boogie woogie swing that works even though the song doesn’t have a lot to say. Benmont Tench does an Elvis-esque number called “Welcome To Hell” that made me think of late Alice Cooper when Cooper is feeling goofy. Cooper barely gets away with this schtick and Tench and the rest of Mudcrutch can’t quite make it work.

The rest of the record is Petty doing what he does; effortlessly delivering brilliant rock songs like they grow on trees. The opening track, “Trailer” is the story of how love fails you when you drop everything because you think you’re going to be with your high school sweetheart forever. This song is the grimy dust-covered Southern version of Billy Joel’s “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”

Rock anthem “Dreams of Flying” carries on the theme of restless youth and uncertain futures. It is like getting back together with the old crew reminds these aging rockers what it is like to be young again. It is followed by “Beautiful Blue,” which calms things down in a psychedelic rock number complete with a haunting piano piece that comes in and out and makes you think of Nick Cave.

My favourite song on the record is the quiet and thoughtful “I Forgive It All.” As the name implies, this is a breakup song grounded in acceptance. People are who they are, and sometimes things just don’t work out. Nonetheless it is a lonely, worthless feeling and Petty captures it well with the line “I ain’t broke and I ain’t hungry, but I’m close enough to care.”

It’s been a while since Tom Petty was broke or hungry, but he hasn’t lost the ability to tap into how that feels. The album even ends with a yearning rock ballad called “Hungry No More.”

While Petty is clearly the driving creative force behind “Mudcrutch 2” the rest of the band make meaningful contributions. Also, you can’t tell these guys haven’t played regularly together since 2008 (when the previous album came out) and for decades prior to that. They are sharp in their vocal harmonies and tightly together on their instruments. It doesn’t sound exactly like the Heartbreakers, but it works. 

Best tracks: Trailer, Dreams of Flying, Beautiful Blue, Beautiful World, I Forgive It All, Save Your Water, Hungry No More