"Thelema" Murder City Devils review by Ruth

It may surprise you to learn that Murder City Devil are good mates of At The Drive-In. Though maybe you knew that already. Perhaps you caught them one of their support slots of Bixler et al. Or perhaps you can see the same seductive fractious take on guitar pop which entranced some, repulsed others, but defintely stunned all. That's not to say MCD are just a carbon copy of their more famous cousins. MCd cut a fine line between Iggy Pop, Talking Heads and (particularly towards the end of this EP) The Crocketts, taking scuzzy rock and adding twisted pop tinges, like a less cheesy version of eighties subversion mixed with Bowie era rock. The almost cod Pink Floyd of 'Bear Away' has Spencer Moody half-shouting, half-screaming (like a more raucous version of Politburo's gravelly lead singer) over space age keyboard. And they've got just the lyrics to match - '364 Days' is a scrambled "open letter to Saint Nicholas", full of tales of savage Xmas loneliness. But the highlight has to be the supreme 'Midnight Service At The Mutter Museum'. Atmospheric none-more black drumming overlaid with subtle bass and skillfully picked guitar, with keyboard tunage that explodes with Spencer's yelling and stomping piano. It runs it's fingers all over every inch of your dead white-skin corpse, yet leaves no bruises...

4/5

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