The Murmurs of Tension 'Awkward Aura' e.p.

Oh God where to start! within the first few minutes of hearing this the band are inspiring just too many thoughts in my head and that’s got to be a good thing hasn't it?

The Murmurs... describe themselves as 'psychedelic pop' which I can totally agree with having not heard anything like this in a while, basically this means a whole bunch of really likable songs lead by jangly guitars and over the top bass playing, a lot of rhythmic randomness and big harmonies topped off with an organ and an attitude that throws convention to the wind.

The Murmurs... have got that slight weirdness to their sound to them which keeps their music far from the middle of the road. In fact this should sound messy but it actually sounds full and orchestrated and incredibly clever. The lyrical nonsense/brilliance of 'Showdown' for example that contains the line "I sold my shoes to a man on the moon and gave away my last cigarette. I bet my life on a three legged horse, something I would later regret" is just brilliant, there's something so charming about how this band write songs that you can't help but be suckered in.



The whole package could easily could be improved tenfold by a better recording because the songs are brilliantly written and musically fit to burst but it just lacks the depth that would allow you to appreciate this but I'm guessing this is more the fault of their budget and not their talent but as they seem to wrap themselves in a bit of an enigma hiding behind their fantastic artwork we can't know for sure.

The bands main strength is their song writing and each tune sounds like its been crafted perfectly and re-written a hundred times each with a slight improvement and that’s what keeps me hitting the play button. The who e.p. flows brilliantly from track to track and is more than just a collection of songs, although I would be slightly dubious about how they could carry off a full album and I think that’s what would make or break them. Are they inventive enough to keep us riveted throughout a long player or have they shot their musical load into these five tracks alone?

If you can get hold of this e.p. or you see their name come up I would think that going to see them live would be spectacular, especially the standout opening track 'Oh when she cries' which rings clear as a perfect slice of pop from a time before pop went bad. In fact I'm going to go as far as to say that the world needs a resurgence of bands like this who are articulate musically and lyrically and can not only refresh something old.

I could easily name drop or compare them to someone else but they don't sound enough like anyone but themselves. Check them out - I’m going to listen to it again.

http://www.myspace.com/themurmursoftension

Matthew Turner