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Kid Mud have been drawing comparisons to Rogue Wave and Sparklehorse, while opening for the likes of Great Northern and O+S, in support of their debut full length, Now They Shut Us Down. Kid Mud is the creation of Sean Duncan, a veteran of indie rock who previously played in Fiver, a Modesto band that recorded with Jason Lytle and toured with Death Cab For Cutie. While his role in Fiver had him sharing the stage with indie's elite, by 2006, Duncan was feeling at rock bottom.

Needing to make a change in his life, Duncan began writing at a furious pace, recording songs with Garage Band in a makeshift apartment studio. These recordings resulted in 2008's Birds Will Move In EP, which featured Duncan playing every instrument. When it came time for his debut full length, he decided to take a slightly different approach. Splitting his time between Mountain Ghost Studios in Jamestown, CA, and his San Francisco apartment, Duncan crafted a record that flows cohesively through 13 diverse songs, conveying a story of emptiness and redemption. "This album turned into to this big family and friends project," he says. "It was great just getting people that I had worked with in the past as well as new people, some that i still haven't met."

Kid Mud's full live band includes members of Fiver, while Now They Shut Us Down includes vocal contributions from Jim Ruiz of the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group. Though Duncan mines rich emotional depths, he also crafts infectious indie rock songs, and judging from the early buzz, critics and fans like the diversity of sounds...

"San Francisco one-man-band makes brokenhearted indie-folk."
-RCRD LBL

"Compiled from Sean Duncan’s earlier one-man-band EP Birds Will Move In and new, larger studio recordings; Now They Shut Us Down is a smooth mix of electro-pop and folksy acoustic twang. This is an easy adoption for fans of Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, or The Shins; but Kid Mud has a sound all his own."
-CBS Radio Street Date

"'Federated' is a particularly jumpy track off the album, which progresses in and out of Duncan’s pensive and astronomical hums... Another of the noteworthy tracks, '909 Garden,' features vocals from Jim Ruiz; the faint repetition of acoustic guitar under the chorus rounds of this duet reminisces the ambient side of Grandaddy’s catalog."
-The Bay Bridged

"At every turn, Now They Shut Us Down seems to throw something unexpected into the mix.... Kid Mud's sound has been compared to the likes of Ween, Rogue Wave, Sparklehorse and Postal Service, and Now They Shut Us Down definitely contains echoes of those, and other indie favorites. The 13- song album is anything but unlucky, its diverse soundtrack deftly telling a tale of loneliness, regret and redemption, of dark times and the light at the end of the tunnel.... Duncan sings "If we win it will be tomorrow; if we lose it will be today." For Kid Mud, it certainly seems like tomorrow is going to be a pretty good day."
-Online Rock

"The result is a set of richly layered, finely crafted indie rock songs. Sparklehorse fans this is right up your alley."
-The OCMD

"Now They Shut Us Down is a collection of well-crafted indie pop nuggets."
-Snob's Music

"'Federated' provides a taste of more warm electro-indie from the one-man prolific band, with new fuzzy shades and ethereal layers."
-Stranger Dance