The Mowgli’s, Sound The Drum

When first listening to The Mowgli’s, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. Here came these songs with male and female vocals trading off in a Johnny Cash-June Carter style. There are a lot — and I mean a lot — of group background vocals in the first song, which also caught me a little bit off-guard. (This also includes a bit of howling — don’t ask.)

After the first song, which in ways is the standout of Sound The Drum, though, I find the songs generally sounding similar. The male vocal parts in this remind me a lot of Plain White T’s back when Tom Higgenson was their singer. The rest of the music is this freestyle jazz that is all over the place but at the same time very organized.

I thought for some reason that this band seemed like they could be a jam band and that they’re very much hippies in some ways; then I heard the line in “Slowly, Slowly,” “You’ll get high off of loving me,” and I began to believe I was correct. Throughout the entire song “Time,” I realized that at the heart of it all, this band is a bunch of hippies.

Hearing lyrics about hating overdraft fees and waiting to win the lottery so he can tell BofA (Bank of America) to kiss his ass seemed fitting to me over five years ago when I actually got overdraft fees. As someone who is a bit older now, I’ve learned how to manage my budget and bank account so that I don’t get overdraft fees, but who knows, maybe that’s just me. I guess someone in their mid-to-late twenties will probably really agree with these lyrics.

So when it comes to The Mowgli’s, I find myself conflicted. I like the musical portion of it, as it can be completely random and fun-sounding. I even like how they sing and don’t find the howling bit that embarrassing. It’s just that, to me, some of the lyrics seem amateur and not something I can relate to at this point in my life.

In some ways, I expect one of these band members to be standing outside Occupy FillInTheBlank with an acoustic guitar singing about something I’d rather not be able to understand the words to. Perhaps their next album should be in a foreign language. Perhaps their next album should just be about the grander issues in life.