Minneapolis is a musical mecca featuring as it does two godfathers of Alternative Rock, Husker Du and The Replacements. Its also home to the Amphetamine Reptile and Learning Curve Records labels, the latter of which is responsible for the latest release from Murf.
Founded in the aftermath of tragedy in 2014, Murf comprise of Jeffrey Truckenmiller - Drums, Evan Clark – Bass/Vocals, Hunter Ness – Guitar, Tom Davoux - Guitar and Vocalist Dan Hoffstrom. Bonding over Robocop, Horror films, WWE and Hardcore, their live shows reportedly give the likes of GWAR a run for their money. They've also toured with numerous stellar names from the underground scenes including Child Bite, King Khan and The BBQ Show and The Spits. Already Dead follows up Video Nasties, the Murf & Virgin Whores split 7", both from 2020, and 2018's S/T debut, and is their “darkest, most cynical and apocalyptic”. Learning Curve always hit the mark when it comes to quality releases and I'm confident that this will be no exception.
'Five Iron' kicks us off with no holds barred Punk-Metal that reminds me of D.R.I. when they were crossing over even further with tracks like 'Tear it Down'. A blistering start. 'Attention Shoppers'alternates between frantic and slower circumspect passages, the latter recalling Vision of Disorder from around the time of the Imprint album. A nostalgic treat. 'My Neighbour' slows down the tempo with a discordant stop-start style akin to classic Jesus Lizard, there's an omnipresent sense of unease which is so engrossing and which you can't help but be captivated by. You can see why Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal was impressed enough to want to plug their work. This segue-ways into 'Gauntlet', an eccentric number that reminds one of Mr Bungle, Free Jazz and Prog on Amphetamines, a dizzying combination that will leave you bewildered and thrilled simultaneously.
'Slaughtered Lamb' is a reference to the pub in American Werewolf in London where the two protagonists foolishly ignore the locals advice to stick to the road. The track is darker with noticeable Dark Surf, Gothic and Post-Punk flourishes that demonstrate a band capable of delivering music with texture and variety. 'Nice Try/Little Man' has a proto Nu-Metal murkiness that tips its hat to Sepultura's Roots and as with the Seps, has some nice grooves and tribal rhythms. 'Pigeon Rat' features ace Wipers' Youth of America vibes thanks to its cool as fuck Proto-Grunge tendencies and 'Frank's Hand' has the same gut wrenching Punk-Blues approach of The Laughing Hyenas and their intimidating frontman John Brannon. Drooling over here. 'Pump Yer Guts' up's the tempo once more with neat Metallic inflections by way of Slayer's underrated Hell Awaits album as well as the lyrical silliness of Stormtroopers of Death, immense fun.
'Recall' features a multitude of interesting Math-Rock diversions, think Converge and Deadguy while 'Red Shirts' mixes up the band's core Noise-Rock and Hardcore sound with ice cold Black Metal, brilliantly demented on paper as it is on tape (other formats are available). 'Have A Nice Day' isAlready Dead's longest track at over six minutes and quite thuggish in places in a manner not really seen since the glory days of New York Hardcore crew Skarhead. A suitably bruising conclusion to the album.
Not that there was ever any doubt, but Learning Curve have continued their winning streak with the signing of Murf, a band who unlike say Kiss and the aforementioned GWAR, show that an outlandish presentation doesn't necessarily have to equate to a lack of substance. An album which delivers on so many levels and then some.
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