Father Murphy-Pain is on Our Side Now

Artist: Father Murphy
Album Title: Pain is on Our Side Now
Label:Aagoo, Boring Machines
Genre: Swans, COIL, Einstruzende Neubauten, Experimental
Date Released: 1/7/2014

Track Listing:

1. Let the wrong rise with you
2. Bones got dry
3. They will all fail you
4. Despite all the grief

Do you miss COIL? I miss COIL. I miss them a lot. And since the passing on Jhon and Sleazy I never thought that our little musical world would ever be graced with anything as engaging as their music ever again. I listen to a lot of avant-garde and experimental music and nothing has ever caught me right between the ear drum which is until I got this promo for Italy’s Father Murphy. What is this you say? Drone? Experimentation? Chants? Male and female vocals? Percussion that sounds like the bones of dead priests being rubbed together? Yes, all of this yes. What I find most engaging about this EP is that it isn’t over indulgent or created simply for the sake of being avant- garde. There is music here, real music. In the press sheets everyone keeps mentioning Italian horror films of the 60’s and 70’s as perhaps their inspiration and I can’t disagree with that. No I’m really quite enthralled with this release. It’s dark, menacing and terrifying yet there is a sense of beauty and peace at the heart of the music. Like a giant wave from the ocean cresting and getting ready to crash down on you and when the water hits, everything is quite. There is tranquility, fear, calm, movement… all these feelings are conjured up for me when I listen to Father Murphy. They have set the bar pretty high in my opinion for experimental music, creating something that is both challenging and satisfying at the same time. A rare master stroke for a genre that is often glutted with over indulgent 30 minute noise pieces with no real discernable voice or motif. Not the cause here. Well done Father Murphy well done.

Listen: "They Will All Fail You"