Chris Martin at the Atlanta Auditory Association encourages you to "Crank it up loud!" (2017)
"Showing the world that Milwaukee has more to offer than beer, brats and the Brewers, R. Mutt is a true American Band built on a blue-collar foundation covered in a healthy dose of Midwestern ass kicking rock-n-roll."
"From start to finish The Dash is a solid record that is a blast to listen to. The music drives the songs providing the support for lyrics that require a bit of thought. There is a good chance that you have not heard the music of R. Mutt so it is time to change all of that. Drop the needle, crank it up loud and get lost in the chunky rock sounds of a damn fine band."
Paul Kerr, from Blabber and Smoke (June 2017) "The title song barrels in with lyrics that cast doubt on the American Dream with the band crashing around in a style reminiscent of the MC5. This is reinforced by the classic guitar intro into Pushing Tin which is Chuck Berry meets U2 with the subject matter the drudgery of an endless day at the coalface for little reward. On Never Look Back the band lock down into a pummeling rock groove that one could equally equate to The Stones and the better glam rock bands of the seventies and even, dare we say it, KISS."
The Shepherd Express (May 2017) "R. Mutt have been kicking around the Milwaukee rock scene for nearly three decades now, and while plenty of fads have come and gone during that time, the group’s gimmick-free rock ’n’ roll remains much the same as it was during their very first shows around the Marquette University campus in the late-’80s. For this show, the group will celebrate the vinyl release of their fifth and latest collection of driven rock music, The Dash, which they recorded with producer Kevin Blackwell.""Showing the world that Milwaukee has more to offer than beer, brats and the Brewers, R. Mutt is a true American Band built on a blue-collar foundation covered in a healthy dose of Midwestern ass kicking rock-n-roll."
"From start to finish The Dash is a solid record that is a blast to listen to. The music drives the songs providing the support for lyrics that require a bit of thought. There is a good chance that you have not heard the music of R. Mutt so it is time to change all of that. Drop the needle, crank it up loud and get lost in the chunky rock sounds of a damn fine band."
Paul Kerr, from Blabber and Smoke (June 2017) "The title song barrels in with lyrics that cast doubt on the American Dream with the band crashing around in a style reminiscent of the MC5. This is reinforced by the classic guitar intro into Pushing Tin which is Chuck Berry meets U2 with the subject matter the drudgery of an endless day at the coalface for little reward. On Never Look Back the band lock down into a pummeling rock groove that one could equally equate to The Stones and the better glam rock bands of the seventies and even, dare we say it, KISS."
Rachel Cholst, No Depression (April 2017) "Wafts of Springstreen and Rush will hit you like a blast furnace, but time and wisdom take the energy of the '80s and slam it into contemplative songs about mortality, the daily grind of a day job, and heartbreak long past."
Do you believe in rock and roll? Jonathan Aird at AmericanaUK believes that R. Mutt does.
"Screaming roars of vocals combine with raucous guitar and thumping that sucker down drums to provide music that begs for answers to many fundamental questions. If this relates at all to your situation then R.Mutt are the very band that will get you bouncing around a room in equal measures drunk and happy." (March 2017)
Jamie Lee Rake, The Shepherd Express (February 2017) Rare is the musical classicist who can inhabit a genre without coming off as a revivalist. On their fifth full-length album, The Dash, Milwaukee’s R. Mutt achieves that sort of classicism when it comes to classic rock. And without the hoary sanctimony that informs, for instance, Bruce Springsteen’s world-wearier work, Mutt makes the philosophical outworking of a rocker grappling with middle age sound downright fun.
T-Bone on MU Scoop (September 2013) "R. Mutt is a lot better than you remember (if you haven't seen them since the 90's). They've lost some hair, and became better musicians."
Rebel Rod, From Under the Basement (November 2011) says "R. Mutt is one hell of a good rock band. Think The Stones and The Band colliding and morphing into some mutated form of both bands and you have R. Mutt. “Leash on Life” is one of the best pure rock ‘n roll records I’ve heard this year."
At Jambands.com (December 2011) Brian Robbins hears influences from some of our heroes in our music "'Spinout' sounds like an All Shook Down -era Replacements song with a chugging acoustic guitar providing the underpinnings while the electrics snap and growl in the foreground. The churn of 'Fighting' may put you in mind of The Radiators trying to crank out one more before closing time. The half-rapped wordplay over top of the funky, lurching groove of 'Think About It' is almost Zappa-esque. And if 'The Tale Of Bobby A' doesn’t make you think of vintage Springsteen, you might want to have that problem seen to."
Jonathan Aird from Americana UK (December 2011) says "R.Mutt know that two guitars, drums and a bass encapsulate the rock and roll band, everything else is decoration. Also, R.Mutt know that there's nothing wrong with drawing on a wellspring of '70's rock: the blue collar epics of an early Springsteen; the passion plays of Bob Seger; the emotional lyricism of Tom Petty."
Arik Savage of Innocent Words Magazine (March 2012)
Like their namesake, R. Mutt is not interested in the pomp and pageantry, but get to the core of their medium. Leash on Life is pure blues.
The album does not play like a relic of a by-gone age of blues, but all the necessary elements are there. The album is characterized by walking baselines, and blues chord progressions. The lyrics and vocals range from the belted ballad, “The Tale of Bobby A”, to the soulful “Spinout.” The guys in R. Mutt are keeping blues alive and kicking.
“Beautiful Bad Day” is the standout track on this album. It reveals all of the complexity beneath the seeming simplicity of the blues. Guitars layer with one another above the backdrop of bass and drums, setting the scene for a song that will draw the whole bar from their seats. The dynamics of “Beautiful Bad Day” jump from slow and soulful to energetic and swinging.
Leash on Life is an album that reflects the experience and musicianship that comes from years and years of practice. Every inch of it is finely crafted, but without ostentation.
Jamie Lee Rake at The Shepherd Express/ExpressMilwaukee.com (November 2011) says: "Imagine that the Rolling Stones had never graduated to international superstardom, but instead found themselves playing Midwestern bars, and you get a good picture of R. Mutt. The songs on the Milwaukee quartet's latest album speak of everyman existential struggles in a rocking manner that straddles blues and jangle with jabs of desperation, triumph and resignation."
JC Poppe ran an interview with Jim Dier at OnMilwaukee.com where he suggests he hears some Springsteen influences in the new album.
Over at Blabber and Smoke (November 2011) Paul Kerr says 2011's Leash on Life is "...an impassioned and energetic set of songs that capture an American splendour delivered with a driving punk attitude. The vocals blast with a full-throated volume while the rhythm section powers away and guitars slash and burn. There are elements here of early Springsteen along with a touch of alt country rockers such as the V-Roys. It’s an energetic ride listening to this."
Routes and Branches (September 2011) called us "...the second best thing to come out of Milwaukee this year (behind the Brewers!)"
Over at music blog captainsdead.com (September 2011) Greg said he "...was more than way impressed... this is the kind of music that i love. it lacks any kind of pretension, they’re not trying to be anything they aint and just get straight to the heart of rockin n’ rollin."
Brandon at In My Basement Room suggested we have "...a Bottle Rockets or V-Roys vibe."and is planning to do a full review of the new album.
Finally, since R. Mutt is Worldwide: Against the Cierzo (September 2011) as translated by Dawn and Annie:
They call themselves, R. MUTT, exactly the same signature stamped by Marcel Duchamp on the famous urinal, symbol of what he called “conceptual shit” or “found art” – this last meaning came from, I suppose, that one work was created from another that had already been created , not starting from zero, from the nothing: the work of art already pre-existed; I imagine that is where the “shots would go” when these young men from Milwaukee decided to baptize themselves as R Mutt, knowing that the rock they perform is capable to stimulate, by its character and attitude without needing to follow any pattern and without intent to cover greater intellectual satisfaction, those who listen to them; for that, there are already others.
Their magnificent song, Maginot, from their disc Heptane from 2007, brought them to my attention; that song, I don’t know why it pursued me more than would be healthy or at least hygienic; I have been following them from the corner of my eye since then; now they release this Leash on Life, which judged by the songs that I have been able to listen to, makes it that we should have our antenna up; judge for yourselves
