Unlike
Boulders
,
Mustard
is designed as a full-fledged album instead of a collection of pop vignettes. Outside of
Wood
's love for
Brian Wilson
there's no concept, yet it flows smoothly and attractively, since each song sounds like an epic pop extravaganza in miniature. In a typically perverse turn,
opens the record with a scratchy parody of
the Andrews Sisters
, tackling the harmonies with sped-up vocal tapes, but as soon as
"Any Old Time Will Do"
kicks off, it's clear that this is a shining, glittering pop record. There isn't much of his signature absurdist humor or quirky studio effects, apart from the jaw-dropping
"You Sure Got It Now,"
a masterwork that
claims "sounds like
backed by
John Mayall
," yet it isn't missed since the studiocraft on
is quite alluring. Where
felt homemade, almost pastoral,
is unabashedly grand, bolstered by endlessly layered harmonies, chiming keyboards, and cavernous productions. The
Beach Boys
influences shine brightly on
"Why Does a Pretty Girl Sing Those Sad Songs"
and
"Look Thru' the Eyes of a Fool,"
and are inescapable on the gorgeous ballad
"The Rain Came Down on Everything."
never really rocks out until the multi-segmented closer,
"Get on Down Home"
and even if it's the one misstep, it hardly detracts from the pop wonders that precede it.
might not equal the brilliantly maverick
, yet it's easily one of the best, most cohesive records
ever made and one of the few to capture him as a (relatively) focused pop craftsman. [
Esoteric
's 2019 CD reissue of
features remastered sound, newly written liner notes and is graced by no less than seven bonus tracks, all A- and B-sides of non-LP singles, highlighted by
"Oh What a Shame"
"Indiana Rainbow."
] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine