MULES - CLAPPING FOR CARERS
From the off, this debut single by Brighton-based four-piece Mules recalls British post-punk’s halcyon days of socio-political engagement. A litany of false consciousness, exemplified in lines like “ Taking Ambien and tweeting is not praxis ”/ “Putting filters on selfies is not praxis ,” is delivered in a blunt, spoken word style that recalls the Brechtian alienation effect practiced by Gang of Four and Wire. Musically, it owes a little more to the North American post-hardcore of Wipers or Metz; but overall, the angular attack of ‘Clapping for Carers’ puts the listener in touch with a cultural spirit that was truly transatlantic as it captured a nascent discontent with the implementation of neoliberal capitalist ideology. The Gang of Four of ‘At Home He’s a Tourist’ or Fugazi at their most strident come to mind. Perhaps an even more unconscious debt may be owed to ‘Skank Bloc Bologna’-era Scritti Politti. Compare ‘Clapping for Carers’ and the Scritti song ‘Hegemony’: on a surface lev