Graftwerk

My favourite local band, one of my very favourite live bands, brilliant musicians playing superb space rock, very loudly, so why did I not hear about Mugstar’s 2020 LP Graft until I stumbled across it in Chester a year after it had been released?

I really don’t know why. I was a bit bummed out when the line-up split with Jason and Pete leaving circa-2018 (?) but I still used to bump into their guitarist Neil Murphy* at Moorfields Station often and ask him how things were going. I guess I just took my eye off the rocket for a moment. What a mug.

Graft is an excellent helping of all the things I like best about Mugstar and I have loved grooving to it for the last few days**. Six guitar-driven instrumental space rockers – strap in, helmet on, T-minus whenever it feels right.

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Opener ‘Deep Is The Air’ is a light touch of atmosphere before the boys cut loose with ‘Zeta Potential’, which is a wonderfully focused driving riff-monster. There are echoes of all the good stuff in here, very early Floyd, Dave Brock playing hard and a definite sensibility that is all Mugstar’s own. The whole edifice seems to come to a shuddering climax halfway through, only for the band to pilot it on home, with some tasteful Murphy touches giving it an almost elegiac feel.

Graft gives us ‘Ghost Of A Ghost’ which has a more questing feel as it builds over a solid 12-minute runtime. I can almost hear a Western soundtrack in the making at times, in the same way that Godspeed You! Black Emperor touched those same tropes on their G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! album. Maybe I’m playing too much Fallout 4 again at the moment, but it really strokes my imagination. There are some very nice subtle keys and Steve Ashton’s drumming is as supple and expressive as always.

The flip side begins with the propulsive ‘Cato’, Mugstar hitting the hyperdrive to good affect, engines straining for the take off. I like the 2:38 running time, positively Ramones-like by Mugstar standards and the melodic keys playing on it.

The aptly titled ‘Low, Slow, Horizon’ is a slow-burning treat with some great bass rumbles, the gentle melody adds an effective narrative quality to the song. This is music to listen to during a post-apocalyptic ramble, whilst enjoying that healthy radioactive aura.

Closer ‘Star Cage’ throws some classic rock shapes into the Mugmix, to great affect. The musicianship here is stellar and the thrust of the track is decidedly interstellar, soundtracking the universe sliding past your cabin window. It is really excellent, especially as it gathers velocity towards the close.

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I have enjoyed playing Graft so much this last week, it really is a showcase of Mugstar at their late best; made me break out Lime again too for a revisit.

I absolutely love this brand of psychedelic rock with added motorik propulsion, Kraftwerkian atmospherics and Hawkwind vibes. There was a lot more of this type of thing around a decade ago and a dearth of folks crafting it today, to my knowledge. Done by an average band it can be listenable, but when it is done by a group of great musicians with real imagination and verve, you occasionally get something as good as Graft.

I am really taken with Graft‘s cover art too, industrial decay and pollution overlaid with pollination and a patina of nature? possibly. It is intricate and rather beautifully detailed, just like the contents. Well played Paul Evans.

Buy this LP if you like remotely like yourself. Do it.

1303 Down.

*a very nice gentleman indeed.

**closing track ‘Star Cage’ even won that most coveted of prizes the Mrs 1537 seal-of-approval.