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Murphy's Law (self titled reissue)
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Murphy's Law (self titled reissue)
Released by: I Scream Records
Released on: January 21st, 2014.
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Murphy's Law, out of Astoria, Queens and made up (at least when this album was recorded) of Jimmy Gestapo on vocals, Alex Morris on guitar, Petey Hines on drums and Pete Martinez on bass, has been around since the early eighties and most of their albums have been out of print for a long, long time. Though they never really went away, they've been touring a lot more these last two years, not only in and around New York City but internationally as well. Considerably more comedic and far less serious than most of their New York Hardcore brethren, they sing songs about… Smoking pot. Drinking beer. Wanting to fuck Dyanne Thorne. Slacking. Being a skinhead. Important stuff like that. They're not as fierce as, say, Agnostic Front or Warzone but they're great in a completely different way. Their songs catchy, and more importantly, they're a lot of fun.
So yeah, this debut album has now been reissued on CD and LP by I Scream Records and while it hasn't been given a super deluxe reissue with extensive liner notes and massive supplemental rarities the way that the Poison Idea reissues from Southern Lord have, it's nice to have it back in print. The albums were around but have gotten rare and started to become pretty expensive. As some of us who didn't grow up in or around NYC might have had trouble finding them, they're now available again. That's a good thing. Supposedly there's a new album in the works, but that was announced a couple of years ago so at this point let's assume it's a case of 'it'll get done when it gets done' and enjoy the old stuff.
The complete track listing for this self titled album is:
Murphy's Law / California Pipeline / Sit Home And Rot / Fun / Beer / Wahoo Day / Crucial Bar-B-Q / A Day In The Life / Care Bear / Ilsa / Skinhead Rebel / I've Got A Right / Sit Home And Rot (Bonus Track)
It's a short album, but a classic in its own right. The opening track is a credo of sorts, it's fast, it's short, it's moshy. The lyrics are simple, it's about not caring, moshing, and being Murphy's Law. Dogs bark in the background on the chorus. Why? Dunno. But they do. In California Pipeline the band takes on the political right President Reagan - “I'm a rad republican, I'm proud to be an American, I'm a rad republican, I'll gladly sign the draft again, Cause I'm a proud American that's right, Ronnie Reagan he's my man, If he can't do it no one can.†This is about as political as the album gets. "America rules!â€
Sit Home And Rot is about sitting home and playing Atari and smoking dope and that's pretty much it. Some quirky gang vocals on the chorus make this one fun to sing along to and it's hard to argue with their commitment to drinking, watching movies and not really doing anything most would consider productive (but which many would consider ideal). Fun is a song about having fun. That's really it, this isn't a complicated song. Murphy's Law says you've gotta have fun and that's all there is to it. Don't ask any questions.
Beer is a song about beer. There are four lines in the entire song: “Why don't you drink fucking beer / What's the matter are you queer / No if ands, it's all the same / So why must you play fucking games.†That's it. Politically correct? Nope. It's not. But it is just under two minutes of alcohol fueled fast, nasty, obnoxious hardcore. Wahoo Day is about waking up, smoking dope, eating some eggs, picking up some chicks and buying some beer. It's thirty-four seconds long and that's it. Crucial Bar-B-Q is a pleasant little number about the joys of eating cooked animals and smoking pot, drinking beer and wet t-shirts. It's the simple things in life that make it worth living. It's got the longest guitar solo on the album but when it's over and Jimmy sings about swollen nipples and having an orgy in the house, it doesn't matter.
A Day In The Life is another song about waking up and smoking dope and eating an egg before heading out onto the New York City subway to pick up chicks. It expands on Wahoo Day, basically. It's a mid-tempo song, considerably less heavy than anything else on the album, it's a laid back love song to the 'beer and herb' that Astoria, Queens evidently offered in the early eighties. Astoria has still got lots of beer to offer but stay away from that new beer garden, it's full of yuppie shitbags and jocks. Care Bear is a song about beating people up and not caring, about not needing anyone to care about you. It's as close to a NYHC 'tough guy' song (surprising, given the title!) that the band delivers on this album and at just two seconds shy of the three minute mark it's also the longest song on the album.
Moving right along, Ilsa is a song about Ilsa, that loveable Nazi played by Dyanne Thorne in no less than four feature films. When Jimmy sings 'Aryan bitch dressed in black hard just like a rock, If you fail to satisfy she'll cut off your cock' it's obvious he saw at least one of these movies (it's probably safe to say it was Ilsa She Wolf Of The S.S. because that's what is yelled out at the end) and that it left an impression on him. It's kind of cool the way that the band pays tribute to everyone's favorite stone-breasted uber-bitch with this track, particularly towards the end where the whip cracks and Jimmy howls into the mic. Skinhead Rebel let's Jimmy sing about having to fight, about how various factions are out to get skinheads (not Nazi skinheads, just regular skinheads, mind you) and about how skinheads will kick the asses of those various factions. It's another 'tough' song and also one of the fastest, most rhythmic songs on the album. Even if you're not a skinhead it'll probably make you want to fight someone you don't like anyway.
The album proper closes out with a pretty solid cover of The Stooges' I've Got A Right. It's not quite as abrasive as the original version but it's a pretty great rendition of that track played fast and sloppy, just like it should be.
Exclusive to this reissue is a bonus track version of Sit Home And Rot that runs ten seconds less than the original version. The insert booklet contains credits for the album but no info as to where this alternate version came from, but hey, it's cool that it's here. It sounds like a demo version, the sound quality is noticeably inferior and there's some tape hiss on the track. Jimmy's voice also sounds a little higher here and the band isn't quite as polished in their playing as they are on the album version. This isn't a better version, but it is an interesting little rarity. This album is still a lot of fun. You might kill a few brain cells by listening to it, but you only live once.
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