{"id":23984,"date":"2024-01-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=23984"},"modified":"2024-01-10T23:17:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T23:17:05","slug":"the-rockford-mules-the-last-camaro-self-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=23984","title":{"rendered":"The Rockford Mules – ‘The Last Camaro’ (Self Release)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m not sure if they themselves ever thought it would happen, but Minneapolis barnstormers The Rockford Mules have reunited and released the brand-new record \u2018The Last Camaro\u2019. This leg-stomping EP comes 13 years after the band\u2019s last full-length album, the excellent \u2018Ma, They Broke Me\u2019, which saw the band at their hard-riffing best. Back then they shared stages with top names such as Soul Asylum, The Violent Femmes, Fu Manchu and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, members of the group have remained creative. Frontman Erik Tasa has produced some excellent contemplative and melancholic solo releases \u2013 sometimes under his own name, sometimes not, sometimes available on online platforms, and then sometimes not (I wrote a piece last year about the album \u2018Murky\u2019 under the name Mudfoot Barker, which has since disappeared \u2013 this is a reminder, Erik!). Guitarist Ryan Rud has also been releasing solo material under the name Frequency Collisions, where he has explored more instrumental and progressive paths. He also presents the podcast The Rabbit Hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of their output has been great and deserves willing ears, but obviously, the need to rock is an itch that just has to be scratched \u2013 and there is a lot of scratching going on in these five tracks. The band describes this as \u201ca 70s rock-infused ode and celebration to a time when your band was your family.\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what it is \u2013 a short but sweet selection of songs to get you up and dancing, from the ballsy opener and first single \u2018Leave the Dirt On\u2019 to the grooving \u2018Honeydripper\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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