Mull House “Funny phenomenon in my Brain”

(Mars Cartel 2001)

Quirky and unpredictable, Mull House likes to explore different combinations of rhythms and harmonies. They dispense with a steady beat and predictable instrumentation to create a nervous, discombobulated sound that resists traditional patterns with playful curiosity. Though their experimental urges eventually come together into hard-driving directions, they pummel and pound the melodies without apology along the way.

Their melodic deconstructions rely on two horns up front, the thrashing free alto sax of Eiichi Hayashi and the cooler, wandering trombone of Taisei Aoki. The group’s leader and main songwriter Akihiro Ishiwatari also leaps in to dismantle the melodies, but uses his high-reverb guitar as the glue that keeps the horns attached, more or less, to the rhythm section. The different members never try to fit pre-set standards of ensemble coherence, but revel in their fidgety tension for its own sake. They play tightly together on fast chord progressions and taut melodies, but then take off into fascinating stop-start rhythms. The result is challenging and idiosyncratic.

The title of their recent, second CD “Funny phenomenon in my Brain” offers a partial explanation for their sound and their powerful sense of fun.