Murder City Devils: they'll burn ya

COURTESY SUBPOP RECORDS The Murder City Devils love the smell of themselves in the morning

When the Murder City Devils carry their perpetual road trip to the Morse College Dining Hall tonight, the college would be well advised to remove all wooden furniture from the room. This is not because the band's explosive live show will metaphorically ignite the room. No, the Murder City Devils have been known to literally set fire to the stage.

Any gasoline pouring and subsequent cigarette flicking only seems superfluous at the end of their blowout sets. While five-sixths of the group look like the tough punk bands that influenced them, lead singer Spencer Moody seems to have walked straight out of a midnight session at Dunham Lab. The appropriately named Moody, however, is the member who legitimizes the band's roughness, especially in their live shows. In fact, the Murder City Devils are one of only a few bands on large independent labels that manage to be rough, angry, and bitter without sounding either contrived or just plain foolish.

Take, for instance, the chorus to "18 Wheels" from the band's second album, Empty Bottles, Broken Hearts: "I never want you/to be a sailor's girl/to be a trucker's wife/to be left behind." The lyrics, and especially Moody's delivery, convey a deeper sadness than most hard rock/punk bands can carry off, a sadness rooted in genuine despair. This sentiment is also evident in "Make it on My Own," when Moody sings, "My heroes have always been junkies and drunk and they're telling lies." For all of Moody's yelling and riot-provocation in songs like "Murder City Riot," the frontman has a darker, plaintive tone all his own. Rather than undermine the band's thick, aggressive sound, Moody gives it an edge that's impossible to manufacture.

Although the Murder City Devils' songs concern loss and regret, they are also odes to rock and roll myth and life on the road. "Broken Glass" is a tribute to Iggy Pop, and "Dancin' Shoes" and "I Want A Lot Now (So Come On)" have die-hard lines like "I know it's late/I want to go home/that is no reason/no reason to go home." The band's first single, however, eclipses them all. "Boom Swagger Boom," from their self-titled debut, begins with a bluesy organ theme and Moody's raucous, "C'mon boys!" and progresses to dance-hall hand claps. And as Moody says in "Get Off the Floor," "If you're not gonna dance, get your ass off the floor."

The Murder City Devils are a live band that is equally boom and swagger, and they shouldn't be missed. Just don't get too close to the stage if Moody starts spraying kerosene.

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