Whisky drenched
Ah, the sweet, sweet sound of cello, guaranteed to make you feel all tingly. It really does the trick on ‘As Long As There Whisky In The World’ which begins as if it will be a gentle country tune but soon shows its true colours with a rip-roaring blast of what feels like folky pop-punk. Adam Turla’s vocals are husky and sultry (he sounds far, far older than he looks), the perfect topping for Murder By Death’s eclectic blend of genre bending folk/Americana/punk/rock. The mix is interesting and artists that spring to mind are Calexico, Gogol Bordello, Nick Cave, Lambchop and Arcade Fire but also none of those; the album conjures up smoky bars and the dusty open desert and is so moody it’s like wading through atmosphere soup; it’s very inspiring and exciting and makes you wish you’d had something to do with creating such a fantastic and cohesive noise.
What could seem like disparate elements all fit together so perfectly in each track from the rocky and dark ‘Piece By Piece’ with its clashing sometimes off kilter guitars to the breathtaking cello, open echoes and beautiful vocals of ‘Good Morning, Magpie’ there is so much going on in each tune that you need to listen many, many times to get the full scope but you get hooked from moment one. The whistles at the start of ‘You Don’t Miss Twice(When Your Shaving With A knife)’ quickly give way to a pounding so rich and distorted you feel as if your ears are right on the edge of bursting but it overlays a quirky little tune and great lyrics.
This is the way this record often works, hooking you in with something emotive or quirky and piling on the layers so that your skin tingles and shivers; atmospheric, entertaining, dark, lovely.