New Mongrels have existed in some form for over 150 years. One of the group’s members, Haynes Brooke, had a great-grandfather who founded the Smythe County Mongrels Society in 1861. The society’s aim was to promote joy via great songs and rhythms. Participants sang joyful sentiments together while drinking hard cider. Sounds like a great night in any century. Today, New Mongrels exist as both a continuation and tribute of great-grandpa Henry’s society. The current collective has members in over a half-dozen cities, and just released their first album since 1998’s Big Cup of Empty. The new album, Raised Incorruptible, is available now.
Some highlights from the album include the opener, “Time”, and the soothing track that follows it, “Love It Madly”, which features a charming male-female duet over acoustical trickles that hearken to the quainter power-pop efforts of Teenage Fanclub. “Time” features strings more prominently in a touching mid-tempo effort with a barnyard country flair. Both are solid tracks that show New Mongrels’ songwriting chops well. You can stream the entirety of New Mongrels Raised Incorruptible below, and on Bandcamp:
Also, here’s the music video for the self-titled track:
