So Blake asks me to listen to this album. He says he thinks it’s “my style.” I thought I was the hippy around here, but whatever. I put it on and start doing a little bit of research and I immediately lose interest. That is to say, it wasn’t love at first listen. Nevertheless, I decided to keep at it. To give it a chance and see where it would take me.

For those of you unfamiliar, and I assume that’s most of you, The Mutts are the latest indie rockers to emerge from the UK. This four-piece rock outfit who seem to be channeling everybody from The Doors to Black Sabbath to The Strokes. Yet, somehow, The Mutts come off as original. The music is rough and aggressive. The lyrics are honest and in your face. Where there are hoards of bands in this genre of heavy-on-the-pedals rock today, this may be the most solid attempt I’ve heard, which is impressive for it being only the band’s second LP.

The release consists of nine songs and it’s pretty cheap, and if you give it a chance, I think you’ll find it hard not to listen to over and over. Catchy, without being pop; good without being overbearing; and dead-on for a band on what appears to be the quick path to success. The distinction here is that they manage to take the music of old and somehow make the sounds their own. People say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that may be, but homage is certainly a more appealing form. That’s how The Mutts seem to me. A sincere homage to the bands who inspired them. I Us We You seems exist as a musical thanks to the musicians who paved the way for rock. It revels in the classicality it deliver and pulls its hooks and jabs deliberately and effectively.

Grade: A