The Mumlers
By Kyle Lemmon
Photo by Andrew Paynter

There seems to be a burgeoning movement in (and out) of the indie rock genre to pile on instruments and musicians as a type of feather fluffing. Glancing over The Mumlers’ seven-piece lineup, which bursts with French horn, slide guitar, clarinet and double bass, this seems like a band hard-wired to sound on the brink of collapse.

Nothing could be further from the truth for the San Jose blues-infused folk outfit though, whose instruments don’t compete with each other, but congeal and change hands selflessly. Also running contrary to belief, the band’s name doesn’t come from the 1860s “spirit photographer” William H. Mumler, who sold photographs that he claimed contained ghosts; the name doesn’t really mean anything. So while The Mumlers aren’t conjuring up phantoms, they are trying to necromance some of the classic charm of the ‘50s and ‘60s with jolts of indie rock eclecticism.

A substitute teacher by day, multi-instrumentalist Will Sprott is The Mumlers’ principal songwriter, though he acknowledges he’s just the beginning of their music’s evolution. Drawing a humorous analogy to the group’s musical process, bandmate James Fenwicke says, “It’s like a man giving birth with six midwives.” Helping to deliver Sprott’s guitar, organ, autoharp and singular voice, which recalls Bobby “Blue” Bland in its tone and Tom Waits in the wryness of its lyrics, are: Paolo Gomez (upright bass), Felix Archuleta (baritone horn, keyboards), John Muller (slide guitar, clarinet), Mercedes El Vencere (percussion), Andy Paul (drums) and Fenwicke (French horn, Wurlitzer).

Muller helped Sprott release and produce The Mumlers’ first self-titled EP in his San Jose studio before the final lineup had coalesced. For the group’s new album Thickets & Stitches (released last month on Santa Cruz’s Galaxia label), Muller asserts intentions were clear: “We don’t want this to sound current, we want this to sound like a good record.” Don’t paint The Mumlers as nostalgic elitists though — resting on top of Muller’s collection of LPs sits a brand new pressing of Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam.

Beyond the whimsical, romping and plaintive tales told on the album, the narrative preceding the five-day recording session of Thickets is also quite intriguing: the Bleeding Edge Festival, a boundary-pushing music festival in nearby Saratoga, had a contest to win a free recording session at co-curator Brett Allen’s SnowGhost studio, and Sprott missed the deadline. While many would have cut their losses, Sprott sent the demo in anyway at the persuasion of a friend, and ended up winning the contest along with Santa Clara’s Corpus Callosum, Seattle’s Obelus and Berkeley’s The Morning Benders. The Mumlers played the inaugural 2006 Bleeding Edge event, then headed up to rural Whitefish, Montana for the complimentary recording session with Allen.

Though the writing and producing was largely handled within the group, The Mumlers sought out local psychobilly pioneer The Legendary Stardust Cowboy (bugle) and Sarah Jo Zaharako of Gojogo (violin) to add more import to the album, which they opted to record live on 2-inch tape with minimal overdubs.

Despite this recording method, The Mumlers’ live show is by no means a facsimile of their album. “When we play live, we sound like more of a rock band,” says Sprott. In the studio, The Mumlers settle into a content languor. Paul’s drums and Gomez‘s bass serve as subtle backbones to Sprott’s loping guitar and Archuleta’s grapevining keyboard work. The introduction of a stage and an audience incites The Mumlers to give into more celebratory abandon and unleash thumping stentorian declarations to engage the crowd. When it comes to finding a stage to introduce this new personality, The Mumlers have compensated for the limited selection of traditional venues in their hometown by playing in parks, outside of old cinemas and in record stores. By drumming up enough word of mouth in their local community, the band landed a spot at last year’s Noise Pop festival and on bills with Yo La Tengo, Clinic and labelmate Tommy Guerrero.

In addition to building up their name and resume, The Mumlers are also playing their cards right, anxiously waiting to see what the reaction to Thickets & Stitches will be before they make their next move. Yet with another full album’s worth of songs written and Sunday night practices in their San Jose basement rehearsal space to keep them in shape, The Mumlers will be well-oiled when the time is right.

www.themumlers.com