R. Mutt

Imagine that the Rolling Stones had never graduated to international superstardom, but instead found themselves playing Midwestern bars, and you get a good picture of R. Mutt. The songs on the Milwaukee quartet's latest album speak of everyman existential struggles in a rocking manner that straddles blues and jangle with jabs of desperation, triumph and resignation. An initial impulse might be to dismiss them as journeymen, but there's something more vital going on than simply going through the motions. R. Mutt's vignettes ring true around their ragged edges.