�EVERYONE�S IN LOVE AND FLOWERS PICK THEMSELVES�
(8-track mini-album/ UNDERGROOVE RECORDS)
Jesuz, this is nutz!
Worcester wonder boys The Murder Of� have already lost the plot in one respect with their eccentric approach to metal-jazz songwriting, and yet this debut 8-track mini-album is in essence a �concept album� of quirky proportions. The premise is that an old, dying man has shut himself off from society to be alone with his thoughts, yet in his mad mad mind a giant cat and dog start fighting for the right to the guy�s conscience.
Wacky huh? But fantastic music all the same, that�s the coolest tongue-in-cheek material I�ve heard since I last saw Hull pop-experimentalists The Edible 5ft Smiths play their little hearts out.
They proudly present their �story� in half an hour, starting with �Building� before �The Beard is Immortal� and their knack of sounding like Sack Trick in their death-metal outbursts of fun genius.
�Infernal Music� is more reminiscent of The Crocketts and Mclusky� just as upbeat and coolly out-kicking. But then something strange happens, as the bewilderingly beautifully subtle �Jack and Oscar Have A Fight� (referring to the animals� battle one has to presume) tunefully impresses with the charm of Mogwai�s music at its best.
Still, �Ex Post Facto� (borne out of its bare piano melody and atmospherics) is the most compelling track of this frankly extraordinary album, that�s finished once �Venezuela Is Realised� in a madcap, crazily full-throttle funk-a-thon.
Rosa might wind up face down in the morgue, but you can�t feel sorry for nothing with a slab of songs this mentally full of zestyberry beans. 4/5 (Steve Rudd)
www.themurderof.co.uk
Release Date: November 2003