Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It takes time to become the artist others know from the start that you are, to reach the point in your own mind that others have passionately believed you were from the moment they first heard you. Some are gifted enough to have that honour bestowed upon them from the very beginning, others have it confirmed in their heads, others have the greatness thrust upon them, and occasionally these moments exist in one spell, one blinding moment of absolute brilliance to which the listener finds themselves holding their breath and waiting impatiently, crucially, for the next song to send them to another place, another time.
Idiot Mule is Scabeater’s latest album offering to the multitude, and it is one that is utterly and completely out of this world, a fully loaded tanker of emotions, one carried by a crest of a wave so large that it can be seen inland from a distance. Not one to drown out the sound of a world on fire, but to consume the thoughts of those who place themselves in the path and who are willing to stand by Scabeater’s Scott Edward Midlane’s side as he takes on arguably the finest piece of work to date he has had a hand in.
In life, there are too many illusions with donkeys and mules in which they are referred to in the negative, and yet we forget that they are a boon to society, if treated with respect, with humanity, the heavy burden they bear on our behalf; it is a similar aspect to which any person who finds themselves under the pressure of life’s toil could find themselves empathising with the domesticated restrictions of existence, when all they want is to let loose, be free and create a piece of art which captures their roaming dreams.
It is to this that the overall arc of Scabeater’s Idiot Mule takes on life’s slog, and across tracks such as Letch, the superb Crotch Goblins, The Venoms Salve, The Excruciating Dullness Of Soberiety, The Morning After and the bitter filled but perfectly acceptable C**** Like Bundy, all leave their impact on the listener’s mind, a footprint driven down by exceptional power which is deeper, more profound and exciting as anyone can hope for.
Once more Scott Edward Midlane returns to haunt and cajole the airwaves, and rightly so, for in the fierceness of Scabeater’s delivery, there can be no excuse to not saddle up and join in the travels of a great mind speaking its mind. Absolutely impressive.
Ian D. Hall