Rickolus - Coyote and Mule
Record Label: Circle into Square
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Mules are used to fend off coyotes from attacking livestock. It’s a weird image, an eccentric title for an album but it describes the record better than I ever could. It has this almost unexplainable offbeat feeling to it. Like a mislabeled tape you’d buy at a garage sale and end up loving.
Being recorded with a four-track, you’d expect a minimalist approach and it almost seems like it will be at first. Coyote and Mule opens up with just an acoustic guitar whilst Rickolus sings like he’s barely trying but eases into a multitude of instruments to create a melody that’s sure to be stuck in your head.
Speaking of things in your head, Something in Your Head shows his technical prowess as he muddies vocals to create a track that could fit perfectly on a Beach House album. The years of experience are apparent throughout the record. Perfecting the nostalgic, Subaru commercial sound even on the more traditional pop tracks.
The title track being the most fitting of the label will make you dance like a fool remembering your first love. “It’s me and you, Coyote and Mule.” It sounds like you’re being let in on a secret that should be kept between the couple and maybe that’s what makes the album so immensely satisfying in comparison to the abundance of similar music.
It’s honest. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be anything. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to put you in a trance, it just does it. It doesn’t feel like the hook is trying to get stuck in your head, you just end up humming it everywhere you go.
This is an album that’s filled with tracks that will make you reminisce the past. It’s almost magical. The only thing I can think about while listening to this is my childhood even if the lyrics had nothing at all to do with that. Clocking in at only 24-minutes it’s not difficult to go through multiple playthroughs and still be left craving more.
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