The Muggs – Slave To Sound

The Muggs

Slave To Sound

by Dave Nowels at 26 February 2020, 6:24 AM

THE MUGGS formed way back in 2000, and at that time were seen as one of the top rock-n-roll “buzz” bands out of Detroit, MI. Unfortunately, the power trio suffered a significant blow to their ascending trajectory when bassist Tony Muggs (DeNardo) suffered a near fatal stroke in 2001. The stroke regrettably left Tony completely paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. Danny Muggs (Methric) put the band on hold in the hopes that Tony would be able to recover. Over the next couple of years, Tony went through intensive rehab and physical therapy, seeing improvements and building confidence. THE MUGGS reformed in 2003, now with Tony still unable to regain use of his right hand, but now manning the Fender Rhoades bass.

2004 saw THE MUGGS briefly signed to a label and releasing their eponymous album in 2005. In 2007 the band appeared on American Idol's spin off, 'The Next Great American Band', which flopped and only lasted the single season. Undeterrred, the band forged forward, independently releasing their second album, “On With The Show” in 2008, buying back the rights to their first release, and then releasing four more albums over the next decade. The band has toured Europe successfully upon every new release, with the majority of the dates in Spain and Germany. The band has won several Detroit Music Awards, and have now returned with quite an interesting release in “Slave To Sound”.

There's a ton of influences flowing forth from “Slave To Sound”. From my listens I picked up a feel of QUEEN (Son & Daughter), THE BEACH BOYS (“Magnet & Steel”) CHEAP TRICK (“Occupied Blues”) and more. The band actually cites two of these, as well as AC/DC and Walter Egan. There's also plenty of quirkiness, in particular on “The Boggens”, which utilizes a lengthy narrative from the 1981 movie of the same name. The album also provides an alternate mix of the song as it's bonus closing track. Definitely a bit of a Twilight Zone feel. Through it all, THE MUGGS fall back on a sturdy base of Blues Rock trio, never losing that formula that spawned countless bands like THE BLACK KEYS and more.

THE MUGGS have quite a story behind them, and as a result I find them to be a band you really want to root for. The musicianship is top notch, the songwriting and composition, well done. The album has a really good flow over it's ten tracks/50 minutes. Definitely one to check out for yourself.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 7
Production: 8