Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon

     Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon by Murder By Death I found at the bargain bin yesterday, and I was kind of hesitant to buy it because it had the same sort of vibe as the other CD I was buying. Overall I'm glad I did. I won't say it was amazing, but certainly better than some of the stuff I find. I knew their name sounded familiar, so either they copied the movie or the movie copied them, which would make the band 40 years old. Luckily, this album came out in 2012. The artwork promotes a moon that is flooding the Earth with light also coming out of it; very intriguing.
     The album starts with a very flat song, where the lead singer doesn't deviate much from a single tone. The music in the background is some high-pitched string instrument, probably guitar, playing individual repetitive notes. The only thing I really got from this song is that the vocalist's voice sounds remarkably like Eddie Vedder, however that initial recognition fades as the album progresses. Anyhow, the second track, Lost River, was much better. It was a lot more upbeat and in an odd way, awkwardly hopeful. The third song, Straight at the Sun, was probably my favorite. It had this sort of tinge of excellency in a very grunge way. No Oath, No Spell, the song after that, was highly cello-driven which provided a unique addition to the sound. That was actually one of the more notable aspect of Murder By Death, the band features a cellist in almost every one of their songs. The fifth track wasn't quite as good and sounded a little like a drinking song the way the tune goes. Number six, Hard World, actually sounds very country but with a steady rock drumbeat. Track seven starts out slow but gets better with time. The eighth song, The Curse of Elkhart, really sounds like they are relaying a prophecy, and an eerie one at that. Ramblin', the ninth song, had good independent aspects, such as vocal or instrumental breaks, but when put together I'd have to say it was strangely structured. The tenth track of the album was instrumental with some very good cello solos; a nice break from the overbearing resonance the album seems to pile on. This continued with the 11th track which parallels a Zero 7 song I know. The last song was good as an ending song an brought things to an appropriate close; I wouldn't trust it to stand by itself though. I am happy I decided to buy Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon. The first four songs, excluding the first one, was worth it all in its own. And as a bassist myself, I am very appreciative of the cello branching out into different genres of music.