Mutzie ● Light of Your Shadow

Mutzie was the nickname given to Eric Levenberg, guitarist, lead singer and elder brother of three for whom this Michigan-based quartet is named. It’s a strange moniker, of course, but I suppose it’s better than calling your band Levenberg. Mutzie’s lone album, 1970’s Light of Your Shadow, first released on the Sussex label, is hard rock of the blue-collar variety, a raw, stripped down combination of heavy guitar riffs, pounding organ fills, punchy horn breaks and not always in tune lead vocals. The end result is an uneven platter of slightly funky blues-based acid rock. “The Game” and “Daily Cycle” prominently feature Levenberg’s guitar work, and both “Highway” and “Jessie Fly” effectively incorporate the group's subtle use of woodwind instrumentation. Conversely, “Cocaine Blues” is about as boring as any other ‘70s rock song with “blues” in the title, while the ridiculously titled “Light of Your Shadow: The Inception (Including the Transition) and The Consummation (Including the Judgment)” captures the over-indulgent bloat of an entire decade’s worth of progressive-influenced rock music in just two parts. Mutzie garnered a fair bit of attention on Detroit’s live circuit—the group reportedly shared the stage with the likes of the Allman Brothers Band, Alice Cooper and Johnny Winter—but the band’s unpolished lp tanked commercially and the group dissolved within the year.

Notes: Here is an audio-only YouTube clip of “Highway” by Mutzie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rowugs6PUQ.