First things first.I'm wondering if Sam Jones, big brain behind The Balky Mule and the album The Length Of The Rail is getting bored of the 'home recording' tag. A lot of reviews have branded him as a mad professor of sorts, tooling away inside his Melbourne home, connecting, unwiring and re-imagining all sorts of instruments and creating all sorts of obscure sounds to layer his music to the hilt with. It's not like he's the first, or indeed the last person to have done this, and while it is a true description, it also ignores the fact that The Length Of The Rail is essentially an album of cute, well thought out acoustic music. Yes, there is something new and distracting going off every two seconds in the background, but it's like an adolescent getting distracted by fireworks at a fair and not noticing the carny stealing his wallet. Some things matter more than flashiness sometimes.'Jisaboke' is instantly very delicate, but at the same time quite persistent in its guitar work and percussion. Sam's vocals are syrup thick and paper thin at the same time, threatening to bend pitch or crackle out at any point. Drums pitter-patter like rain across 'Wireless', with singing floating in and out in a lazy and effortless fashion.For all the touted complication, The Balky Mule is a master of the sparse masterpiece. Title track 'The Length Of The Rail' doesn't have any sort of lyrical input for the first third of the song, but you don't feel like anything is missing. The build-up is necessary, but not necessary in a prog-rock 5 minute dirge way. It just feels right.And then there's the jolly pop. 'Range' is one of the prettiest songs I have heard in a long while, with some chromatic guitar lines almost sounding like mistakes (but coming off very endearing), and a stubborn woodblock knocking at the inside of your head whenever it feels the need."Baby I need your loving, it's a long way, I can take you there." Not anywhere near being left field, but instead simple and complimentary to the mood.Another talking point amongst music critics is Mr Jones' past life in the Bristol music scene. The use of extended and repetitive musical phrases accompanied by SFX may hark back to Sam's post-rock previous, but The Length of The Rail is an entirely new beast and not at all comparable. This is music that would sit equally well on U.S. Soil as it does on Australian. Hopefully a release across the pond will follow suit after us in the U.K. get a hold of it.The Balky Mule's debut album is a definite must for anyone who likes anything acoustic, subtle pop tunes, or just quality song writing in general. Yes, it's full of many year's worth of musical experimentation, but it's more packed with pretty melodies and lyrical grace and style, and its these elements that deserve your recognition far more than the random aural fireworks which punctuate the songs contained in The Length Of The Rail.Kids these days. No attention span. 86%The Balky Mule On Myspace