It will only take you about 10 seconds to identify the city Murder Mystery hails from. They flaunt the New York retro-rock flag of The Strokes about as obviously as one could expect. But whereas The Strokes are clearly influenced by the late 70s punk/post-punk NY scene of Television, The Talking Heads, Blondie, and The Ramones, Murder Mystery doesn’t draw on those sources as clearly as their fellow-New Yorkers. Instead it’s a mix of Is This It-like brattiness, 80s New Wave romance, and just enough of the occasional shuffle-step in the drums to let you know they own a handful of the alt-country classics.What they’re good at is churning out ultra-catchy, energetic pop-rock songs in rapid fire succession. Their grammatically challenged debut, Are You Ready For The Heartache Cause Here It Comes, is a 12 song, 33-minute blast of rock n’ roll hooks. It shows off the band’s melodies and professional musicianship - they’re tight, with some poppy bass-lines and intricate guitar work. More than half of these songs would fit comfortably on any modern rock playlist. Lead singer Jeremy Coleman has seemingly adopted Julian Casablancas’s laid back disaffectedness, but his voice falls a little short of that singer’s occasionally distinct howl. And the decision to not mix up the tempos (every song is upbeat) makes listening straight through a bit tiring by the album’s second half. Since it’s a debut though they can get away with the lack of diversity - next time a wider variety of tempos and sounds will be needed. For now Murder Mystery gets by on a simple notion - catchy songs with a good beat will get people’s asses on the floor.
MP3 :: Who Doesn’t Wanna Give Me Love?
MP3 :: Honey Come Home
(from Are You Ready For The Heartache Cause Here It Comes. Buy here)
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Website :: Murder Mystery
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