Just Mustard are an alternative/shoegaze five piece from Dundalk. Formed in 2016, they already have an album to their name: Wednesday. Wednesday was aptly released on a Wednesday in May and it somehow managed to pass me by, I guess I was going through my Ariana Grande phase…
Throughout Wednesday, the vocals of lead singer Katie Ball, often assisted by David Noonan, put you in a dreamy state. Not that she’s singing about sunshine and roses; her vocals instead put you in a place you can’t escape from until you hear her out. There’s a mix of emotions. There are twists and turns. There’s brilliance! “Boo” opens the album and by the time the second track, “Curtains” comes screeching in you can tell this album is going somewhere great. The depth of “Pigs”, a track where Just Mustard fool you into thinking it’s going one way before quickly readjusting to a pacy number, summaries just how creative this bunch are. The unpredictability of Wednesday is rarely found in debuts, with its sometimes chaotic, sometimes direct ferocity keeping you enthralled for 35 minutes.
A relieving aspect of Wednesday is that it doesn’t let up. There’s no single track planted in the middle that slows the pace or tries to act as some kind of anchor. Instead, Just Mustard keep going with tracks such as “Pigs”, “Tainted” and “Deaf” being among some of Just Mustard’s best known tracks. Each of these individually are incredible songs that sound as though they take inspiration from a number of genres. Really, this album just keeps going which makes me wonder what tracks Just Mustard had that didn’t make the cut!
Another thing that’s shit hot about this record is its drums (thank you Shane Maguire). I’ve mentioned countless times that I’m a sucker for drums and I often feel that they make the classic punk/post-punk records we love truly great. Perhaps production also plays an important part on Wednesday because you feel like Just Mustard are playing in your living room the whole time.
We all know Wednesday as hump day, a day that gets us through the crappy side of the week and brings us one day closer to the weekend. With Just Mustard’s Wednesday however, it’s like the day you never want to end.
To keep tabs on Just Mustard, check out their Facebook page here.
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