I am finding a lot of good things about this LA band ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’, which has just released a debut LP on ‘Hello My Name Is Records’. I missed them at Origami Vinyl, but I bet I will have other occasions to see them.
From what I get, their alcohol-fueled fast songs, heavily built around Matthew Teardrop’s raucous voice, are ferocious and determined, as much punk as post-punk, and their live performances have been qualified of intense and assaultive, the band spending more time in the middle of the crowd than on stage.
In an interview, Teardrop said that he finds his inspiration from books he read and that he tries to rip off Morrissey. Originally from Washington DC, he moved to LA, and recruited some of his band mates through Craiglist mentioning Morrissey, the Pixies and the Cars. He also said they don’t bother with practice: when the songwriting process is done (by Teardrop) they simply kind of improvise on it together.
But I have no idea why he is wearing an army helmet or using a Woody Allen’s movie title as the band’s moniker!