Murkin
The Halloween Party EP

Reading the accompanying blurb that comes with CDs can sometimes be a dangerous thing to do. Not in the same league as jumping into a lion’s cage waving some sausages and shouting ‘who’s hungry?’ mind, more that the bold statements that jump off the average press release could hype up the caterwauling of the 3am drunkard outside your window to sound like the most mind blowing event in musical history since the Beatles walked offstage at Shea Stadium.

Murkin describe themselves as an ‘anti-pop’ band, promoting an agenda against the mass media promotion of both the meaningless drivel of pop music and the bland ‘less mainstream’ manufactured boy-bands with distorted guitars. Fighting talk indeed but at the end of the day, it’s the music we’re here for and, unfortunately, this doesn’t quite pack the same punch.

Title track ‘Halloween Party’ is an unremarkable rock song with an overused chorus line. ‘Sometimes’ chugs along with a vocal duet and 80’s era guitar riff that brings to mind Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler’s less than finest hours. ‘Freeworld’ advises that ‘every politician lies’ over a busker’s strumming guitar-line before going back to the 80’s theme with ‘This Time’, which could be the cliched soundtrack to the sun setting over two young lovers while Slash warbles a histrionic guitar solo in the background.

Ultimately, if you’re looking to replace today’s brand of factory produced pop music then you’ll have to create a new and exciting blueprint in order to turn the mass media’s attentions away from its current insipid diet. Sadly, Murkin have a long way to go to achieve this.