Murder By Death - Il Bocca Al Lupo

Genre rock Publisher Tent Show Records External Links Official Murder By Death Website Official Tent Show Records Website

Immediately upon hearing determined step-step-step drumming, ominous dark-cloud strains of cello, and Adam Turla's anger-pitched calls, I realized that the 19th Street Yamo Noodle House wasn't exactly the appropriate venue to listen to this album straight through. Oh, I ate there regardless; the place is damn good. But the bellow of "Curry Prawn!" yelled out by my stone-faced over-the-counter cook was the most tangible action and grit I could garner from the place. Closing my eyes and focusing on the music only resulted in more curry-stained clothes, and hand-over-mouth giggles from Chinese ladies, goddamn it. Truth is, this album needs to be played over some beef stew, Dinty-Moore style. Filled with rusty saw-blades and other such symbols of somber, dust-covered masculinity.

What else can you expect from an album named Il Bocca Al Lupo (or for you non Eye-talians, "In the Mouth of the Wolf")? Splattered throughout this band's 3rd concept album are themes and images that seem as if Johnny Cash and Tom Waits had a little 6-hour cuddle-fest and Murder snuck in afterwards to collect the residue. Judgment! Redemption! Covering For Your Lousy Ass Brother, but Fuck, He's Family! Snakes! And, of course, Teaching Your Son How to Fight! This isn't to say that Murder is just rehashed machismo. There are interesting swings of mood throughout, from campfire laments, to gypsy-whirling tangos, to pint-raising boisterous brawls. The aforementioned Turla has a voice with similar range, growling whispers in "One More Notch," allowing himself some Cash-ian drawls in "Shiola," throwing out some vitriolic Modest Mouse hollers in "Sometimes the Line Walks You." It seems as if the sound of the band must have originated from his melancholy country vocals, they seem that integral.

Concept albums are an interesting musical medium but, honestly, I can't say I'm completely behind them. By having a connected album, weak songs gain artificial importance if only by serving as bridges to better pieces. If done poorly, the fleshing out of an appealing subject can quickly become dull repetition. In the same vein, thematic boundaries can push out potentially interesting songs that don't fit the mold. What if Murder By Death had a tremendous song about waking up to a great day, chick cooking you a bacon omelet, and knowing the day is full of great possibilities? At the band meeting, you'd hear, "Uhhh, yeah. Is the Devil involved? Would the chick be judging you in some way? Instead of an omelet, could you somehow work in regret and resulting penance for your life of sins?" I just wanted to toss in a little variety there, get a few good feelings going, and already I'm getting shouted down by these Moribunds and their single-minded construct. Screw that. Rants aside, Murder gives an involving message of misdeeds and consequences throughout the album, summed up well in the last track "The Devil Drives" wherein Turla mutters over a brooding cello, "lately we haven't been at our best." The personal vices that have plagued the characters within the album have eaten them from the inside, made them wretched. However, regeneration and renewal are consistently invoked, most notably in "One More Notch" where confessing your sins equates to "a snake shedding its skin." And after the lowest, quietest, most repentant part of Il Bocca's final song, an uplifting organ chorus breaks out with the help of church-choir voices, children's voices, all singing about how "there's still time to start again." For as much Hokey Bullshit as it sounds in type, it works well, sounds refreshing. Especially after you've been hammered for 11.5 songs about personal damnation.