HR155 - Murray the Cop - Dark Times Are Coming - C90 — 1989
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SIDE A:
PROCEED WITH CAUTION DARK TIMES ARE COMING DANCE OF THE DEAD SECOND LANDING THE EFFECTS OF PCP ON THE GODFATHER OF SOUL THE CANCEROUS GIFT NO MERCY FOR THE WEAK SHEEP IN WOLVES CLOTHING SIDE B: CHRISTIAN PROSTITUTION ART LINKLETTERS DAUGHTER HUMANS IN CHAINS |
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Murray the Cop is West Virginia based Bunk Nesbit. What I enjoyed so much about this tape is the eerie morphing and mixing of synth-pop with Industrial and experimental elements.
‘Proceed With Caution’ opens the set with a brief, playful, minimal synth melody. The action really begins with ‘Dark Times Are Coming’, a spacey, hip-shaking, minimal synth-pop tune, overlaying voice samples that contrast with the music. But they’re hysterical! Examples: “Where’s a good place to take a shit?!” And, “You quit yer sassin’ boy. I pulled you out of your mother and I’ll shove ya right back in!” ‘Dance Of The Dead’ features hyper-kinetic synth-pop with swirling chaotic effects. The voice samples start with a brief bit from a religious show, but we soon get Bunk’s vocals singing to the music. It’s aggressive but melodic and has a nice groove. Imagine Chrome trying to be a synth-pop band. ‘Second Landing’ sounds like a steadily shimmering rush of aircraft drones and laser blasts, peppered with barely audible voice samples. ‘The Effects of PCP On The Godfather Of Soul’ is a rhythmic cut-up of James Brown shouts, horn blasts, and crowd cheers. ‘The Cancerous Gift’ consists of robotic synth-pop with tobacco scarred vocals that sound like a cross between Country and Goth. ‘No Mercy For The Weak’ is similar but with more overtly Goth vocals, but also a cool plinkity synth melody and a soaring spacey synth line. Bunk surprises by amusingly sneaking in the opening lines of lyrics from Tanya Tucker’s ‘Delta Dawn’. ‘Sheep In Wolves Clothing’ is pure valium drenched synth-drone-pop.
Side B opens with ‘Christian Prostitution’, which at 32 minutes is the epic of the set. It’s a free-wheeling collage banquet of voice samples, music, morse code melodies, sundry sounds, and effects. ‘Art Linkletters Daughter’ is a quirkily bouncy Kraftwerk for kindergarteners melodic piece. And ‘Humans In Chains’ closes the set with a dreamily floating space excursion.
Murray the Cop is West Virginia based Bunk Nesbit. What I enjoyed so much about this tape is the eerie morphing and mixing of synth-pop with Industrial and experimental elements.
‘Proceed With Caution’ opens the set with a brief, playful, minimal synth melody. The action really begins with ‘Dark Times Are Coming’, a spacey, hip-shaking, minimal synth-pop tune, overlaying voice samples that contrast with the music. But they’re hysterical! Examples: “Where’s a good place to take a shit?!” And, “You quit yer sassin’ boy. I pulled you out of your mother and I’ll shove ya right back in!” ‘Dance Of The Dead’ features hyper-kinetic synth-pop with swirling chaotic effects. The voice samples start with a brief bit from a religious show, but we soon get Bunk’s vocals singing to the music. It’s aggressive but melodic and has a nice groove. Imagine Chrome trying to be a synth-pop band. ‘Second Landing’ sounds like a steadily shimmering rush of aircraft drones and laser blasts, peppered with barely audible voice samples. ‘The Effects of PCP On The Godfather Of Soul’ is a rhythmic cut-up of James Brown shouts, horn blasts, and crowd cheers. ‘The Cancerous Gift’ consists of robotic synth-pop with tobacco scarred vocals that sound like a cross between Country and Goth. ‘No Mercy For The Weak’ is similar but with more overtly Goth vocals, but also a cool plinkity synth melody and a soaring spacey synth line. Bunk surprises by amusingly sneaking in the opening lines of lyrics from Tanya Tucker’s ‘Delta Dawn’. ‘Sheep In Wolves Clothing’ is pure valium drenched synth-drone-pop.
Side B opens with ‘Christian Prostitution’, which at 32 minutes is the epic of the set. It’s a free-wheeling collage banquet of voice samples, music, morse code melodies, sundry sounds, and effects. ‘Art Linkletters Daughter’ is a quirkily bouncy Kraftwerk for kindergarteners melodic piece. And ‘Humans In Chains’ closes the set with a dreamily floating space excursion.