Just Mustard – WE WERE JUST HERE (Partisan/Mushroom) (13th Floor Album Review)
Irish experimental rock band Just Mustard have just released their third album WE WERE JUST HERE. The LP dances (with high energy) using a variety of different tones and overwhelming noises created by the band, creating an engaging listen.
The band, formed in 2015, have risen to prominence after a self-release in 2020. Since then, they’ve joined Brooklyn based record label Partisan Records. They’ve also been heavily touring across both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Clearly, they’re a hardworking group and this is all on display with each song (which are all capitalised for some reason!).
After listening several times to the LP, I had a few nice anecdotes about my experiences with a Microkorg synthesizer some years ago. I was going to comment about how some of the sounds on the album reminded me of playing around (very ineffectively) with the presets. A little bit of live footage and research showed me that the band achieves their sound using guitars. Oh, how wrong was I!
Yep, turns out they use a modulation and reverb pedals make the experimental sounds. That and jamming the strings really close to the pickups. Apologies for the music jargon, but I think it’s really cool. The guitars range from whining overwhelming feedback to sweet synth sounds. I’m absolutely certain there’s an arpeggiator in the album-titled single WE WERE JUST HERE, but a good magician never reveals his tricks.
The adjective to describe this album is overwhelming. It’s very raw. Now, just to clarify, this is NOT a bad thing. I was really captivated by the chaotic sounds that this band have been making right across the record. It captures a live performance vibe well.
The drums were actually a real highlight for me. Drummer Rob Clarke has kept the songs in a nice groove. Despite the roaring and whining guitar-modulated-to-become-synth-sounds, he’s made the album very danceable. There’s a little bit of drum and bass in SILVER and a really nice groove has been laid down on DREAMER.
Singer Katie Ball’s voice floats over the wide soundscape that Just Mustard produce. It can become almost a little sickly sweet at times. But guitarist David Noonan has small parts across the album which gives it a little more balance. Ball does deliver on a lovely (and slightly out of place) ballad called THE STEPS.
Falling into the more noise-rock/experimental genre, the vocal melodies aren’t quite as in-your-face-catchy. While slightly more unusual, I did really enjoy them. Just listen to the single POLLYANNA, and you’ll hear how they hold together each song.
As I listened to WE WERE JUST HERE, I was forever trying to compare it to artists I had heard before. There’s little influences I can identify here and there, but overall, I found it something new in itself. Now, I wouldn’t play it at a sit-down dinner party! But it is certainly something I will be encouraging others to listen to. Just don’t ask me why all the song titles are captialised.
Daniel Edmonds
WE WERE JUST HERE is out now on Partisan/Mushroom
