Kind of punk but not really

I've come across two albums in the last week I've really liked - "Standing in the Way of Control" by The Gossip, and "Red of Tooth and Claw" by Murder By Death. Both bands are similar in a sense that they kind of get lumped in as punk bands, which is kind of undeserved.

The Gossip, as far as I can tell, are punk because they're fronted by an obese lesbian who claims she never showers, which is pretty punk if you think about it. But listening to the album, aside from the occasional scream, mostly I just hear a combination of Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes, and a bunch of eighties pop music (on their "Live in Liverpool" record they cover George Michael's "Careless Whisper").

Murder by Death are punk, because they are on a punk record label, and generally tour with bands from that scene. While lyrically they cover some similar ground, musically they're completlely unique. With a mix of guitar, drums, piano and cello, they sound like The National playing a show at Al Swearegen's on a Saturday night in 1876. Most of their songs are set in the old west, but it's a long way from the sanitised version of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne films. I'm guessing these guys are big Cormac McCarthy fans.

I'm really liking both of these CDs, but I know that if you were to ask me in twelve months, it's Murder by Death that will still be in strong rotation on my ipod. The Gossip produce good, disposable tunes, but what Murder by Death do is, without being too pretentious about it, art. "Red of Tooth and Claw" can't quite measure up to their best record "Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?" - a concept record about the Devil waging war on a small Mexican town - but there are some tremendous moments, from the Pearl Jam-esque "Ash" to "Fuego", which I think is going to be their first single.

I couldn't find anything on youtube from the new album so here's something from one of their old albums which gives you an idea of what they're like.



And from The Gossip, "Jealous Girls".