New Haven Advocate
May 12 2006

A year ago, the Mammals barreled into Lafayette, Louisiana in their big blue diesel van to perform in a Acadiana-meets-Francophone music festival. By the time they left, they had stirred up enough dust to keep the local newspaper busy for weeks--all because of one little song.

After a strong set, the band chose "Bush Boys," from 2004's Rock That Babe , as their encore, "which may not have been the best idea," laughed singer/guitarist Tao Rodriguez-Seeger in a recent phone interview. Sample lyric: "You hoist your lies and you feed our fears / I can't believe you still got three more years."

Attendees quickly complained, sponsors threatened to pull out, and festival organizers asked the Mammals not to play the song the next day. The band cried censorship. "We made a big stink about it in the newspaper," says Rodriguez-Seeger. The topic was debated in the editorial pages long after the Mammals left town.

That's the new millennium for you. When a band in the folk circuit is sparking controversy with its lyrics--rather than, say, for "plugging in"--you know the times really have a-changed. And few other bands epitomize that change better than the genre-bending Mammals.

Their folk roots run deep: Rodriguez-Seeger is the grandson of Pete Seeger. Ruth Ungar, who sings and plays assorted instruments, is the daughter of Jay Ungar, who wrote "Ashokan Farewell." It's no surprise, then, that the Mammals are fond of old-time music, especially folk ballads and Appalachian stomps. And yet, Rodriguez-Seeger also loves AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and the Clash, and he says Mammals chief songwriter Michael Merenda has turned him on to indie rock.

Those disparate influences converge on their recent release, the deliberately titled Departure . The opening track, "Follow Me to Carthage," is pitch-perfect folk-pop in the vein of Sufjan Stevens, with a complex arrangement of banjo, glockenspiel, organ, violin and electric guitar--and a sharp anti-war message to boot. What follows is a record as eclectic as they come: an alt-country ballad. A cover of Morphine's "Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave." A folk ditty. A South American protest anthem (sung in Spanish). Even Nirvana's "Come as You Are," reimagined as a bluesy dirge.

Live, their shows are equally unpredictable, ranging from "whisper-quiet to ear-shattering," says Rodriguez-Seeger. Sure, they get flipped off now and then for their leftie politics, but even that's changing. "We just went back [to Lafayette] two months ago," says Rodriguez-Seeger, "and it was almost like a hero's return."

—Ryan Kearney