Italy’s FATHER MURPHY is currently en route to the East Coast where they’ll spread their eccentric and diseased hymns across North America on an epic month-long journey, with additional rituals recently added in Washington, DC, San Diego, Salt Lake City and Albany. The trek includes a live appearance on June 19th at WFMU in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The frighteningly strangulating avant occult duo, who The Wire likened to “homemade Morricone and toytown Goblin,” will be touring in support of their Pain Is On Our Side Now EP, released via Aagoo Records earlier this year. The follow-up to 2012’s Anyway, Your Children Will Deny It, which found FATHER MURPHY‘s amalgamation of noise and pop instincts colliding with echoes of Henry Cow, Jacula and far-out contemporary classical music, was recorded by the band and mixed and produced by Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier. A concept album that centers itself on failure, Pain Is On Our Side Now boasts four chilling tracks of eroticism and emotional decay, each playable on their own merit but with the additional option of synchronized playback for tracks one and three, or two and four, conjoining into two new sonic excursions. It’s only when you reach the bottom that you feel you can still dig…
Get baptized in blood to the sounds of Pain Is On Our Side Now, streaming in full at THIS LOCATION.
FATHER MURPHY North American Tour 2014:
5/08/2014 Ortlieb’s Tavern – Philadelphia, PA
5/09/2014The Beehive – Washington, DC *
5/11/2014 Bar Banditos – Richmond, VA
5/14/2014 Mothlight – Asheville, NC
5/15/2014 Caledonia – Athens, GA
5/16/2014 Eyedrum – Atlanta, GA
5/18/2014 Mango’s – Houston, TX
5/23/2014 Spirit Abuse – Albuquerque, NM
5/24/2014 Flycatcher – Tucson, AZ
5/25/2014The Bankoroft – San Diego, CA *
5/26/2014 The Handbag Factory – Los Angeles, CA
5/27/2014 Night Light – Oakland, CA
5/28/2014 Hemlock Tavern – San Francisco, CA
5/29/2014 Bat Cave – Arcata, CA
5/30/2014 The East End – Portland, OR
5/31/2014 Northern – Olympia, WA
6/01/2014 Lofi – Seattle, WA
6/03/2014 Neurolux – Boise, ID
6/04/2014House Show – Salt Lake City, UT *
6/05/2014 Hi Dive – Denver, CO
6/07/2014 Reckless Records Showcase – Chicago, IL
6/08/2014 Joyful Noise Performing Space – Indianapolis, IN
6/09/2014 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH
6/10/2014 Meddlesome Lab – Rochester, NY
6/11/2014Upstate Artists Guild – Albany, NY *
6/12/2014 Boston Hassle – Boston, MA
6/13/2014 House Show – Providence, RI
6/14/2014 Feeding Tube Records – Northampton, MA
6/15/2014 The Urban Farm Fermentory – Portland, ME
6/16/2014 Suoni per il popolo Festival – Montreal, QC
6/18/2014 Death By Audio – Brooklyn, NY
6/19/2014 Live on WFMU – Jersey City, NJ
*recently added
FATHER MURPHY is the sound of the Catholic sense of Guilt; a downward spiral aiming at the bottom of the hollow, and then digging even deeper. Spawned near Venice and boasting three albums and a plethora of EPs and limited releases, the grim duo – Rev. Freddie Murphy (vocals, guitar) and Chiara Lee (vocals, keyboards, percussions) – has, over the years, shapeshifted into one of Italy’s most mysterious and enigmatic musical exports, part of the community that esteemed music critic, Simon Reynolds, dubbed the new “Italian occult psychedelia.” Evolving from twisted psychedelic pop into a far darker sonic exploration, FATHER MURPHY manifests foreboding songs that crawl and twist and hiss like that old biblical serpent; their off-kilter, traumatic creations not only earning the critical accolades of media both statside and abroad but winning over the adoration of Julian Cope, Carla Bozulich, Deerhoof, Michael Gira and so many others.
“A mix of Monty Python and a lurid low-budget Italian horror film comes to mind as you listen to the clanging riffs and distressed wails of Turin outfit FATHER MURPHY… The floridly prog-gothic atmosphere – sinister church organ, shuddering guitars, black mass chants – grows oddly beguiling as the album continues. Suspension of disbelief is required, but the effort doesn’t go unrewarded” – Ludovic Hunter-Tilney/Financial Times
“The oddball psychedelic chamber pop the Italian duo exhale will creep you out with drones, lullabies and anguished vocals all competing for front-runner spot in your next nightmare. Perfect.” – Terrorizer
“Pain Is On Our Side Now is a fascinating listen. It’s an unapologetic venture into head music and contains some powerful compositions. It’s steeped in a sense of reverence, but one that looks below, rather than expecting anything from above.” – Drowned In Sound
“…woozy and ominous, dreamy and dense, a glorious deathlike dirge…” – Aquarius Records
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