MUSIC REVIEW: MURRAY KINSLEY & WICKED GRIN – MURDER CREEK

Shane | 20 September 2019 | Reply

MUSIC REVIEW: MURRAY KINSLEY & WICKED GRIN – MURDER CREEK
Phoenix Records, October 2018
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
78%

Murray Kinsley is another lauded Canadian blues artist – winner of prestigious Maple Blues Awards – who whilst having the blood of the blues flowing through his veins, is also well in touch with rock n’ roll as well.

Kinsley has a unique voice – during opener This old Dawg I wonder if this is what Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) would sound like fronting a rocking blues bar band – and Dance The Blues could almost be a Leonard Cohen song, complete with jazzy rhythms.

Whilst recording in Florida the Parkland School shooting occurred, and Trouble Coming is the bands response to that tragedy. It pulsates with a New Orleans voodoo blues and an appropriate sadness, but the slide guitar throughout is pure joy, and there’s a Tragically Hip feel to the song as well.

So Long, Too Soon is a tribute to inspirations who have left this mortal coil, while the title track is a jumping (mostly) true story of murder and deceit. My Own Way (as in “can’t seem to get outta my own way”) is a bouncing juke joint track that sounds as authentic now as it would have in the 1930s or any time hence.

The album closes with the harmonica-drenched epic Freedom and again there’s that Tragically Hip feel to the song, though with backing vocals courtesy of Mary-Jane Russell and a simmering, swampy humidity.

Kinsley and his road-seasoned band have got it going on, and Murder Creek is very satisfying indeed if you like your blues a little dark and brooding.