We’ve already highlighted how much there is to love from Desert Mambas’ EP …But It’s a Dry Heat. Last week, we finally got to witness the fruit of Bailey Moses’ labors. Moses has spent most of their time with indie rock band Foxx Bodies. While that punchy sensibility is a hefty influence on …But It’s a Dry Heat, we also hear them uncoil into expansive baritone guitar hooks, a meditation on twang and its infinite possibilities.
The one-two punch of “In The Middle” and “Buzzcut Blues” illustrate how country music is just as apt for physical ramblings as it is for wandering the wilderness of the heart. “In The Middle” is a muted lament for transitions of all kinds: the grief of ending a relationship and the optimistic impatience of gender transition. It’s a liminal space of beginnings and endings, and it’s scary not to know if things will turn out the way you hope.
“Buzzcut Blues” heavily references Leslie Feinberg’s conception of butch and transgender: those who stand outside the binary may be a disappointment to others, but Desert Mambas’ jaunty acoustic strum holds strong against their world-weary lyrics. Once you learn to accept yourself, nobody can take it from you.
“It’s Been a While” cranks up the cowpunk as the song’s noodly guitar hook lassos the listener’s attention. “Dry Heat,” the EP’s closer, showcases Desert Mambas’ guitar hero side as the instrumental track winds us through an infinite desert of change, possibility, and the loss that must come with them.