Live Review: Murder City Devils @ Williamsburg Waterfront 7-18-10 (photos & video)

Murder City Devils wasn't a band I grew up on. I was an adolescent during their birth in 1996. Frankly I only heard their name after hearing about their Nokia Theater, Times Square appearance in February of this year I only heard the two songs on MySpace, thought it sounded good. But it wasn't until I saw them live this past Sunday at JellyNYC's free pool part along the East River at the new location, Williamsburg Waterfront, that I could really feel their influence and impact. 

I was almost in tears upon hearing "Broken Glass,"-a song about Iggy Pop and their final song of the early evening. Apparently it was an extended version or different version that sounded like a sort of tribute to Pop with the second part being about discovering a record that gave singer Spencer Moody a "thread of hope." The organ-esque tones of the keyboard sounded creepy, but set the tone of the music. It was completely emotional: "Iggy, baby. I like the sound of you." The bass kicking in when the keys stopped. Toward the end of the song, he looked like he was about to lose it, picking up the mic stand and walking back and forward..Murder City Devils sounded like a garage-punk band meets Alice in Chains meets mewithoutYou with a keyboard! I  became a fan. Minus a few times when the mix sounded a little off and the sound a bit rough the one hour set I caught was great.

I was impressed with Moody's shout-talk styled vocals and the crowd response. JEFF the Brotherhood, Silverghost, and Obits also played. What did you think?

--By Star Child

See the video, read the lyrics, and more photos below.

"I went down to the record store. I left my mother's house and when down to the record store to see what I could find and I only had a couple dollars in my pocket and I went down there and I was looking through the records and I was flipping through and I pulled out a record and I looked at the cover and I opened up the gatefold, it looked alright. I didn't know what it sounded like but it looked pretty good to me. Just a kid, just a kid who couldn't sleep. Just a kid who couldn't sleep. Just a kid who couldn't sleep and spend about 20 percent of his time crying on his homework and not getting along very good in this world and there was something in that record that gave me just a little thread of hope. Just a little glimmer of a different world, that no one every told me about and I took it home and I put it on the record player that I got in a garage sale down the street and it sounded alright, it sounded pretty good. I like the sound. I like the sound of you rolling. I like the sound of you rolling. Iggy, baby."--- part of "Broken Glass" as performed 7/18.