I have been waiting all summer long for the Mantles’ debut album. They had the party/performance October 1st at the Eagle Tavern, sharing the bill with Grass Widow and Yellow Fever. It is a vinyl-only release with a download card tucked inside. I love this, as it seems that music has gone so far away from being something we can hold onto and consult (like a map). There is some music that I think of foremost as mystical object: the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request, Pharoah Sanders’ Live At the East, and anything by Thee Oh Sees. The Mantles’ LP has an inner sleeve graced with a beautiful drawing by Colter Jacobsen. As for their sound, I always think of race horses bucking around in their stalls just before the gun sounds and the doors burst open. I am typing this from Vancouver. I attended this show the night before I left and played the record as much as I could the next morning before taking off. I can’t wait to come home to it. Please do not sleep on the Mantles.