With a name like Mustangs of the West, you must play country music. The band consists of fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, and drums. While the electric guitar doesn’t seem to add a whole lot to the band, the fiddle is always on point. From the first tune of the album you can rest assured this is in fact a country band and pretty good one at that.
Along with the fiddle work, what I felt helped this album stand out was the songwriting.
“This Is Me Leaving” was my favorite. The hook sounded like a heavy nod to artists like Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. It sounded like a woman, independent and strong who is leaving because she is better off without a man. It’s a refreshing and uplifting take on moment usually accompanied with heartache. Another great tune, “I Blame Love,” is a great tongue and cheek tune. It asks early on why we all complain so much about heartache. But as she sings in the song, “Everyone says its complicated… but I blame love.” It’s so clever. Even the last chorus, she starts listing more reasons that could cause trouble in our lives but stops herself suddenly and adds “but most of all I blame love.” There are a few spots where the songwriting takes a dip like on “Do The Math” or even the title track. I am willing to forgive those though as there are some real songwriting gems on here. Songwriting involves taking risks and without those risks, you wouldn’t have these great tunes.
I found myself appreciating the stories weaved throughout Mustangs of the West’s album Time. The band sounds tight and plays well with each other. They sit back and let the lyrics do the talking. Every once and while they throw little things here and there like a saucy guitar riff on “I Blame Love” or cavernous drums on “Sevens Summers” to fade out the album. This is definitely not some fly-by-night band with their first major release. It’s several talented musicians who know how to write a song.
Written by Columbia Jones