Muler - The State of Play (1997)

When I compiled Muler's volley of '90s singles for a blog post all the way back in 2009, I'm not sure why I wasn't prompted to share their fantastic debut album that was released in the midst of all those crazy cool 45s.  Well, here it is all those years later.  The State of Play was a week-to-week (if not day-to-day) staple for these ears when it dropped some fifteen years ago.  Glorious, distortion-soaked noise pop, comprised of equal parts propulsion and melody.  Muler would almost certainly have been branded with the “emo” tag had State of Play arrived with a post-9/11 copyright date (and they probably would have moved a helluva lot more copies too).  In that first entry I did on these Rochester, NY wunderkinds, I mentioned they bore more than a passing resemblance to New York's Lotion, but even more so they would have slotted perfectly with The Promise Ring (think, Nothing Feels Good or Very Emergency) and to a lesser extent, Tugboat Annie, also from that era.  Numerous highlights here - "Share an Apple," "Thrush," and "Something Sour" to name three particularly great ones.  In 2010, Muler resurfaced with their second full length, Hope You Found a Home, available on vinyl or digitally.  BTW, the d/l to the Muler singles thingy I talked about earlier has been revived.  

01. Wrong Coat
02. Thrush 
03. Share an Apple
04. Caesars Palace
05. Birthday Cake
06. Aspirin
07. Something Sour
08. Yellow
09. Honey Fondue
10. Sneakers
11. Son of Karate
12. Rubber Shoes
13. When They Were Ultimatum

 Available thru Amazon.