Reviews - Murdocks - Sleazegrinder: This is actually an EP, not a demo, but you know, let's not split hairs. Truth of the matter is, these super-slackers from Austin are gonna rocket right to the middle no matter what ya call this 4 track ball o' goodstuff. Here's the thing- long, long ago, like in the 80's, back before every goddamn band marketed themselves in tiny sub-sub-genres (a little electro-honky tonk, sir? How ‘bout some acid doomboogie?), there were only two kindsa bands- ones that rocked, and one's that didn't. It was good system. You always knew who yer friends were back then. In the 80's, the Murdocks would have gotten tossed into the “rock” pile, easy. They woulda gotten favorable comparisons to gritty, boozy, roots rockin' bands like the Replacements, the Buck Pets, and the Dancing Hoods. The weird dudes down at the record store would blast ‘em on Saturday afternoons, and really cute girls would know the words to the songs, even the ones with fucked-up titles like “Death of a French Whore” and “Dance the Vomit Shakes”. It's not even close to the 80's, tho, so Murdocks get pegged as “garage rock” a lot, even tho they don't sound a thing like any gang of gas-guzzling Swedes you can think of. So, just take it from a salty old fucker like me- is you dig dirty, swaggering powerpop tunes by cats that are as clever as they are tipsy, then belly-up to the bar and order a pint or two of Murdocks. They go down smooth and leave a nice afterglow, man. Sleazegrinder |