Album Review: The Balky Mule - The Length of the Rail
- Written by Richard Wink
Before we get to the music let me answer a few questions that I'm sure have by now entered your head. 'Balky' basically means stubborn; a mule is not a donkey, but the end result of when a donkey and a female horse get it on; the term 'balky mule' refers to a workshy equine, one that in all likelihood was not handled very well and is of very little use as a working animal. To bring this back around to music, the father of Texas blues-man Blind Lemon Jefferson had a song called 'Balky Mule Blues'.
The Length of the Rail is a sparse listen, full of intrigue with rewarding clandestine depth. Where Sam Jones -aka The Balky Mule - owner of wafer thin voice reminiscent of a subdued and less astute Ray Davies narrates his way along the Railway line like a modern day Edith Nesbit.
'Dust Bird Baths' opens to bird tweets and the sound of mule steps, with a bassy plod and erratic acoustic picking, Jones' voice struggles along, threatening at times to break as the track is interrupted by a thunderous electric crash. 'Too Long' continues with a clop, and a staccato almost Malkmus-style delivery with moogy background twitching.
'Jisabroke' describes the futility of battling with the alarm clock in the morning whilst suffering from the affects of jetlag. 'A moth' flutters into intricate shards of light with some added lyrical brilliance Now I did not write the next few lines / I took them from some friends / I thought they would not mind.
The instrumental 'Blinking' morphs into 'Wireless' and at this point almost halfway, the album looks to be heading into a pleasant pedestrian territory. However the unique percussion and whirling distressed harmonica that abruptly cuts into 'Chalk' reinvigorates interest. It is at this stage that the album takes us back to walking along the rail track, where the previous microscopic observations in the early songs of the album are revisited again in The Length of the Rail.
'Range' is chirpy conventional lo-fi pop tune, somewhat out of place on the album; it's a jolly good ditty and an indicator that Sam Jones is a talented songsmith. Perhaps if he moved away from his admirable experimentation and self-indulgence he could become a potent pop composer.
'Illuminated Numbers' with its jarring synthesised sounds would be at home on The Sophtware Slump. 'Paper Crane' moves further into the experimental with eerie echoed vocals. 'Instead' is another instrumental backed by rutting percussion. 'We sometimes Write' a celebration of the mundane, multi storey car parks and coffee dispensers. 'Glass Boat' is a pellucid delight before the album closes with 'Tell Me Something Sweet' a dose of cherubic tranquility.
The Balky Mule divulges maudlin exquisiteness, a floating listen at odds with the frantic nature of what is currently being hyped and salivated over. Whether or not The Length of the Rail gets adopted by the listeners is unlikely to be a salient concern for Sam Jones, a musician who is likely to keep roving no matter what direction the wind is blowing.