Boston's Kal Marks have a new track, “Life Is Murder”, that comes from an upcoming record with the same name, and if you've been feeling down and out, this will be the soundtrack to your pint glasses of watery whiskey for weeks to come. Kal Marks' lead vocalist, Carl Shane, has an affectation in his voice that is bedraggled and sorrowful and identifiable in the way that you can see right through to his pain. The track is chuggy and grungy, but never falls too far off-balance—it's like a bizzaro world punk song where folk singers from the Smoky Mountains added their influence. (Though it's really just Krill's Jonah Furman on the backup vocal track.) The highlight is the song's close, when a vocal breakdown leads into a driven, fast-paced ending, and “life is murder” begins to feel like a real maxim we can identify with.
Kal Marks' Life Is Murder is being released by the holy triumvirate of record labels—Midnight Werewolf, Sophomore Lounge, and Exploding In Sound Records—on September 17, and you can keep your eyes pealed for that release here.
