Murmurs are from Seattle and have been around for just about two years now. The eight tracks on this LP were originally released on cassette but the head honchos from Dead Broke and Drunken Sailor obviously felt that this deserved a more auspicious presence and took it upon themselves to give it the full long player treatment and to those guys we should be grateful.
From the opening guitar on the first track "Thirty Five Summers" it is easy to hear why they felt so strongly about this band. That sound is damn near perfect for me â it's beefy and crunchy, with a sort of HDQ / Leatherface i.e. Dickie Hammond, quality to it, and when the vocals kick in I'm like a volcano about to erupt as it just gets better. Now I have to say I've never been a massive Leatherface fan but "Thirty Five Summers" reminds me of that band and is a stonking track that is driven along by some great bass lines that fill out the band's sound even further.
So, with a first track that blows me out of the water it would be good enough for me if the band continued in the same musical vein but it's not that way at all. Yes, the guitar sound features throughout and yes the rhythm sections does a sterling job of keeping this tight yet loose but the songs are far from being repetitive: Murmurs are not content with the lazy approach of cookie cutter melodic punk. The switch is most noticeable on the third track, "Dolorous", which clocks in at just over five minutes and is a beast of a song, relying more on an emotional delivery which is significantly slower than any of the other seven tracks. "Dolorous" is the kind of song which can make your blood ache from its intensity and forceful manner albeit one that doesn't need to be hammered home with a lot of noise and speed.
The variety that is present is added to with the vocals on "Starling" which sound more like Chris Doherty (Gang Green) than anything else. This song is probably the most frenzied on the album although it possesses a few changes in tempo to keep it from being a one-trick pony. The final track, "Snow Angels", begins with a clink of bottles accompanied by the toast, "Here's to feelings â fuck them" and the song is another that hits the mark with relative ease as it follows a fairly basic but effective path.
This is some record and the good news for those enamoured by it is that the band is currently recording a new full length for release later this year. If you do nothing else, just check out the first track on Bandcamp as that should be enough to lure you in - it's just awesome.
Check it out here.