Mock Orange – Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse

Indiana’s Mock Orange have now been around for over two decades and by my reckoning this is their thirteenth release. By all accounts ill fortune struck after this album had been completed, the failure of a hard drive put the recordings made for this album in danger of never seeing the light of day. Thankfully they finally managed to retrieve them from the errant computer and, five years after their last release, Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse has finally been released, is this a case better late than never?

Mock Orange have made something unusual and undefinable in Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse, the opening track I’m Leaving comes straight from the Dinosaur Jnr. school of thought, it incorporates fuzzy guitar, a strident rhythm and treble laced solo’s over understated vocals. This gives way to the more subtle and ethereal, and misleadingly titled, High Octane Punk Mode. Nine Times and Window incorporate riffs that any self respecting 70’s rock giant would be proud of, but they avoid the clichés and posturing usually associated with such things. The album continues to throw curve balls throughout the ten tracks and never settles, yet strangely it all ties together into one unique and rather enjoyable package.

To say Put The Kid On The Sleepy Horse is a diverse album would be an understatement, it incorporates so many influences and styles that it should be a confusing and uncomfortable listen, but it isn’t, it’s exactly the opposite. I can’t say I blame the hard drive for wanting to keep this album all to itself as this is a unique and incongruous release. It has one foot planted firmly in the past, yet it manages to achieve a contemporary and original sound. Would I listen to this every day, probably not, but when the mood is right I can’t think of a better soundtrack to lose yourself in.