Bloated Kat / Brassneck / Cat's Claw / Kezy P / Waterslide (2023)
Mark “Guitar” Murphy and his Meds are back for their second full length, Monochrome. Anyone that reads this website knows that I am a long time fan of Mark’s work – having first discovered his band Crocodile God in the mid 90s. Crocodile God and they entire mid 90s Crackle Records scene in the UK really shaped my view of punk rock and what I was looking for out of it. There was something about it that connected to me differently than what I was hearing in America and to this day, those are the sounds I prefer the most.
Luckily, Mark is still writing songs just as catchy and immediate as what he was cranking out with Crocodile God. Monochrome is full of his fast tempo, fuzzed out guitar riffs, insanely catchy vocals and more hooks than a thing that has a lot of hooks. It’s as good as the last record, though I’ll admit it took me a few listens to come to that conclusion.
I can’t call it a criticism, because it’s not really a negative thing, but the first couple of times I listened to the record, it flew by so fast that most of the songs didn’t really hit me. This is a record that’s barely over 20 minutes long and the fast paced songs do kind of fly by if you aren’t paying attention. It took a few times of sitting down and really focusing on the record that allowed the songs to sink in more and connect. I guess what I’m saying is due to it’s brevity, it’s not really best enjoyed as background music. But if given more dedicated attention (or even better, played loud while driving) that’s when you’ll see why Mark is one of my favorite songwriters.
Mark Murphy & The Meds – Monochrome:
https://bloatedkatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/monochrome
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