November 8, 2004 | Posted by anders at 8:56 PM

don't let the name scare you away

murder by death "Devil in Mexico" and "Joe Bou" by Murder by Death.

my first exposure to Murder by Death was at, of all places, a hardcore and metal festival. with a name like "Murder by Death" and an album that tells the story of a town under attack from the devil, this might not sound that surprising. but give the tracks a listen and you may be surprised.

Murder by Death aren't very easy to classify but they don't sound like any hardcore band i've heard. complex arrangements, cello, piano, tight musicianship and all around good songwriting. i hate to call them indie rock (i'm no fan of that genre; my hatred of the strokes and the white stripes and all those other hipster sacred cows is unbounded) but the only bands that i can descibe them in terms of are some of the few indie bands that i can stand like Sigur Ros and the Black Heart Procession.

they have a couple videos on their website that are worth checking out: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves and I'm afraid of Who's afraid of Virginia Wolfe. it's also kind of neat that the lyrics page for "Who will survive..." has song by song explanations of the content and relevance of each of the songs.

do yourself a favor and buy their albums, "Who Will Survive & What Will Be Left of Them" and "Like the Exorcist but More Breakdancing" and don't miss a chance to see them live.

anyway, the world needs more cellos.

Comments

The name wouldn't scare me away--sounds a bit amusing, actually, like the Neil Simon play y'know.

Posted by: tuwa at November 9, 2004 2:40 PM

hey I know these people... bloomington represent! great people, great songs.

Posted by: heath at November 9, 2004 6:56 PM

Just to be clear, the Strokes/White Stripes/etc. are not indie and never were! Indie encompasses a lot (too much to be a very useful "label" some might say), but not those guys and their ilk. Some indie is very good, and there are obviously some bands that cross genres between indie (and the like) and electronica (and the like). Don't hate on indie!

Posted by: Jim at November 12, 2004 12:52 PM

just saw mbd in anchorage, ak, and show was awesome. one of the BEST live shows I have ever seen. it was only $10 bucks and there were only like, 40-60 ppl there, but they were AWESOME. and the cellist was insanely hot.

Posted by: scott at April 4, 2005 2:20 AM

Yeah these guys are one of the few exceptions to my mainly hardcore and medolic cd collection. heath is right in what he says. it's nice that you spent the time to put these guys up here, but do your homework if you want to bash indie.

Posted by: sway at May 26, 2005 5:41 PM
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