Has it really been over five years since we’ve shared a song from our Austin pals Guma? Apparently so. I was delighted to receive the band’s new album A List of Sightings in my inbox recently, and upon hearing “Mud Doctor” I had no choice but to include it in the all-important number 2 spot on Ball of Wax 67. Something about the deep-pocketed groove, compositional playfulness, and T.J. Masters’s deadpan baritone call to mind early 2000s Jim O’Rourke, one of my indie rock comfort foods. Two sharp guitar stabs dump us right into that groove, heads bobbing from the first beat. The rhythm section is steady as a rock with sharp syncopation on the verse, opening up to broader vistas on the chorus, even as the lyrics turn to the mud. That groove takes us out all too early, bass and keys adding a few flourishes here and there while the fader heads inexorably down.
Maybe it’s just that we’re two years into this pandemic, or maybe it’s the nature of the music itself, but something in these first couple tracks clearly has me and Matty thinking about the joy of live music. I would love to see this band live and have that end section just go and go and go, never devolving into a full-on noodley jam, just everyone grooving for days and leaving room for each other to have a little fun with the themes. (Yes, I am a middle aged man who likes Steely Dan and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Please do not let that cloud your appreciation of Guma.)
In conclusion: Guma! Come to Seattle!