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Scott Murray:
Stutter
Scott Murray popped on my radar after I attended an acoustic gig in Minneapolis. Mr. Murray was persistent in his efforts to sell some copies of his first album, Stutter; and I was able to weasel one away from him for free thanks to my association with this fine web publication. I was not sure what to expect; in some ways I was surprised, and in some ways I was disappointed. What is for sure is that Murrays album is ready to find its place on pop radio, but does that make it good? I love the DIY attitude of guys and gals getting together in basements, living rooms, etc. and cranking out pure soul driven rock music. But, what we have here is Murray walking into a studio, with studio musicians and delivering a highly produced and polished album, and its missing the grit. Underneath the shine, there are some well-crafted, nicely arranged songs that are FM catchy. Murray creates music that is accessible, which is something that those in the indie rock arena often forget. Some indie bands are so driven by noise and experimentation that they forget that to win over fans you need to deliver something they want to hear. Maybe a large audience is not a desirable goal for some indie bands, but no one should blame people like Murray for delivering those kinds of tunes to the masses. The lyrics throughout the album are fairly clever and include lines like this opening to the disc: Ive heard it said that God is dead/ Sometimes I feel his blood drying on my hands from the track Dry Bones. The song Gun to Your Head was probably my favorite. I dug the melody and the tongue-in-cheek lyrics like, You can blame it on the government/ Blame it on the Man/ Say it was religion that messed you up so bad/ One thing you can count on whomever you accuse/ Youll marry Mrs. Habit if you lie with Ms. Excuse. That kind of vibe is found throughout the album. All in all, I cant say this completely won me over, but there were bits and pieces throughout the collective whole that make this worth a listen. If there are two points that annoy me most about this album, they are that Murray didnt play any instruments (a DIY no-no), and there is a smug picture of Murray on the inside cover that radiates pompousness. Is that being too picky?
Check Amazon, Insound and CD Universe to purchase this album.
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