DecoyMusic.com

Sign Up | Login |

Forgot your password?

Murder By Death - Good Morning, Magpie

Rating

RIYL

Nick Cave
Johnny Cash
Cursive

Release Date

04/06/2010

Label

Vagrant Records

Tracklist

1. Kentucky Bourbon
2. As Long as There Is Whiskey in the World
3. On the Dark Streets Below
4. King of the Gutters, Prince of the Dogs
5. Piece by Piece
6. Good Morning, Magpie
7. You Don t Miss Twice
8. Yes
9. Foxglove
10. White Noise
11. The Day

Users Rating 4 ratings	Your Rating Create an account or log in to rate this album
Recent Ratings
danielwasilewski	Zach Roth
Mike Duchnowsky	Matt Murphy

“This album has a couple songs that are more positive, so it's pretty cool because they still sound like Murder by Death songs and the lyrics are still somewhat dark but kind of a little more fun,” said Murder By Death frontman Adam Turla prior to the release of Good Morning, Magpie.

Rarely has a pre-release blurb been so enlightening. Murder By Death has built a career on brooding compositions supported by Turla’s narrative lyrical style and the elegant cello playing of Sarah Balliet. From their earlier, “indie” material to the more recent Johnny Cash/Americana-influenced albums, the one constant has been the underlying darkness exuded so effectively by the group. Like the Exorcist… was a gloomy exercise rife with down-trodden lyrics and ominous instrumentation, Who Will Survive… and Red of Tooth and Claw were both loosely based on a Mexican town’s war with the Devil and the ensuing aftermath, and In Bocca al Lupo was inspired by works like Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher and Melville’s Benito Cereno. Now, on their fifth full length Good Morning, Magpie, Murder By Death partially abandon their dark nature in favor of a lighter sound that will likely bring the group new fans while dividing fans of the band’s past work.

The group’s newfound positivity is readily apparent on tracks like “As Long as There is Whiskey in the World,” “The Dark Streets Below” and “The Day”. “As Long as There is Whiskey in the World” maintains a light-hearted disposition even as Turla sings, “As long as there is whiskey in the world, we can sleep away the heartache, we can sleep away the girls,” while “The Dark Streets Below” is a catchy, up-beat track accentuated by a horn section during the chorus, adding a Cuban/salsa flair that is a remarkable change of pace for the group. Unfortunately, airier tracks like “Yes” and “Foxglove” falter due to, not necessarily their lighter nature, but less than effective songwriting.

“King of the Gutter, Prince of the Dogs” and “You Don’t Miss Twice” tread comfortably between the light and dark nature of the group, while moments more reminiscent of Murder By Death’s darker side do appear sporadically throughout the album. The most notable example is “Piece By Piece,” a fantastic song that hearkens back to the group’s earlier sound. The instrumental build up around the lyrics, “Time has a way, of breaking you down, piece by piece, when you don’t stand your ground,” is one of the more emotive moments on the album and reemphasizes Balliet’s importance to the group’s dynamic. “White Noise” is a menacing track that initially shows potential but accomplishes little before leading into excellent closer “The Day.” The track prominently features Balliet’s cello playing and finds Turla contributing more energy than he does throughout the majority of the previous tracks, ending the album on a high note missing from the previous three songs.

All in all, Good Morning, Magpie is a good album but not a great one. Gone are the eccentricities and variances from the norm that personified the group in the past as each track seems thoughtfully composed almost to a fault. After the first few listens I was ready to pass this album off as a failure, though after spinning it several more times I now see it as an interesting crossroads in the group’s discography. Does it mark a sign of things to come for the band, or is it simply a slight deviance from the norm? As I mentioned earlier, the album should go a long way toward expanding the group’s audience; I myself will likely find myself returning to Good Morning, Magpie less frequently than anything else in the Murder By Death catalog.

--Matt Murphy