Red Of Tooth and Claw, Murder by Death’s latest full-length album and first since signing with Vagrant records, is one you can listen to with almost anybody, except with your mother—and definitely not your grandmother. Both would be inclined to grab a bar of soap and ask you, nicely but firmly, “Where does this Adam Turla character live?”
It is an album that mixes influences from the “good ol’ days” of early Americana, with touches of genre-clashing post-punk and rock.
Lyrically, this album presents drunken debauchery and love-gone-awry with sometimes vulgar, but always refreshing, honesty. Turla describes the album as “Homer’s Odyssey of revenge, only without the honorable character at the center.”
It begins with “Comin’ Home,” a song about a wayward traveler who has been beaten up by the world so much and so often that he returns home. The first thing you will undoubtedly notice is lead singer Adam Turla’s voice and its ascent—or some may say descent—to Johnny Cash-dom. Whether you’re a Cash fan or not, you won’t be able to deny that Turla’s voice has reached new heights of haunting beauty. Throughout Red Of Tooth and Claw, and specifically this track, his voice takes on a life of its own and sets the low-driving tone, both melodically and lyrically, for this album.
“Fuego!” is one of this album’s first singles. The interplay between Sarah Balliet’s cello and Turla’s vocals carries this song to and from emotional climaxes, while the rhythm section fills the spaces in between with balance and stability, composed of new percussionist Dagan Thogerson and veteran Matt Armstrong on bass.
For those who complain that the focus of Murder by Death has become Turla’s voice and lyrics rather than the musical aspects need only listen to “Theme (for Ennio Morricone)” and “Spring Break 1899.” The first is an instrumental song showcasing the band’s unity and highlighting the talents of each band member without the distraction of lyrics. However, Balliet steals the spotlight with her sweeping ranges and free-flowing tones. “Spring Break 1899” is the album’s concluding track and stands as the near flawless ending to Murder by Death’s epic. The man who was “Comin’ Home” in the beginning fell helplessly in love in “Fuego!” and lived a life of vulgarity that this article doesn’t dare to repeat, before he decides from “Now on I’ll do all the good I can…”
Turla says on the band’s website, “The real energy in our songs comes from stuff like the sexual tension, the murder, the drinking and basically any other dirt you find between the lines.” If this is the kind of beautifully rendered “dirt” you enjoy listening to, then give Red Of Tooth and Claw a try. But remember for Turla’s sake, “Mum’s the word.”
