Wrinkle Neck Mules "The band hails from Richmond, Virginia, where I guarantee there’s a healthy fan-base of college students. At live shows, I imagine the English majors who are Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy completists sip their Amstels while scoffing at the Bud Light frat-boy set, who sing along too loudly. That broad appeal is the genius of this genre, and this band. While there’s no shortage of bands doing what the Wrinkle Neck Mules are doing, there is enough lyrical and compositional strength on Pull the Brake (Shut Eye Records) to distinguish it from its twangy peers. There are parallel—and yet seemingly opposing—forces at work here: lyrics that paint dark portraits of loss and departure and instrumentation that is largely bright-colored and singable. Opener 'Liza' might first be mistaken for a love song, reminiscent of R.E.M.’s 'The One I Love'. But, upon closer listen, those lines of 'Oh Liza, Oh Liza, you’re mine…' emerge not from love, but possession—it seems our narrator has killed Liza’s father and brother, has kidnapped her, and is now en route to a mineshaft. In the chorus of 'Dust of Saturday', lyrics 'You go your way / And I’ll go mine' are sung in a harmonious manner despite stating the opposite. Though 'Okechobee' doesn’t exactly roll off of the tongue, this bluegrass-tinged song is surprisingly catchy. Its subject? A man reminiscing about his home—a home which he has chosen over a woman. It is this sort of mystery and texture that make these songs worth revisiting." - PopMatters