New Mongrels
Big Cup of Empty
Daemon
This rotating cast of members consistently produce records whose irregularities are a welcome feature. Inconsistent with itself, the New Mongrels still stay within easy-to-understand bounds – the music is acoustic in nature (if not always in application), and the lyrics are carefully ensconced in appropriate music and harmony. Although this is coming out on Amy Ray’s Daemon Records (and features at various times one or another Indigo Girl), and heavily stars Big Fish Ensemble’s Michael Lorant, the New Mongrels seem to be more of an outlet for interesting tangents than catch-all for musical overflow. A brilliant melding of disparate sources, the New Mongrels (and Big Cup of Empty) form a unique, almost-mythological creature in southern music… Daemon Records, P.O. Box 1207, Decatur, GA 30031; http://www.monsterbit.com/daemon