Mockingbird Wish Me Luck

Just a few months after Dine Alone records snatched up and re-released Mockingbird Wish Me Luck's Goodbye Debris EP as a digital release, the band return with new seven-inch Branches. Both tracks deliver the same gravel-voiced, slow-burning punk that fuelled the EP. It's underscored by a wistful alt-country twang, matched by the solid, yearning melodies that transform A-side "American Homes" from a Midwest-style post-emo dirge into a tuneful all-American anti-anthem (it still has those vocals, after all). B-side "Branches" stays a little closer to its modern American beard punk roots, sharing much more with obvious influence Hot Water Music than just a Bukowski-inspired moniker. Mockingbird have hit a musical stride quite early on, and while they're not rewriting the rules, their ability to have an immediate, and lasting, impact makes them ones to watch in the future.