Murder Mystery: Official Site, MySpace

Teachers in school always touted and taught never to judge a book by its cover. Alas, it is hard to adhere to this tenet when bands, such as Murder Mystery, utilize obnoxiously verbose song and album names. Thanks to this superficial reason, their independently released debut, Are You Ready for the Heartache Cause Here It Comes, initially put me off. However, my preliminary worries were quelled with the guitar-driven opener “Who Doesn’t Wanna Give Me Love.”

With the knob-tweaking help of JP Bowersock (Ryan Adams, The Strokes), their style is simple unobtrusive rock, and a pleasurable alternative to more mainstream indie acts. Composed of longtime friends and family, the NYC retro quartet cherry picks sonically defining elements from their classic rock predecessors. The music combines punchy Motown-inspired bass lines with Television-era fretwork. All the while, frontman Jeremy Coleman commands a distinct vocal presence that combines elements of Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, and Julian Casablancas.

Tracks like the heartfelt “Honey Come Home” and the swaggering “Think of Me” explore well-traversed themes of girls, relationships, and life’s hardships. Yet, standout “Love Astronaut” proves to be the melodic lifeblood of the record, with its rollicking synth loops and toe-tapping rhythm. Then there is “Baby, You Can Write Me a Letter,” a surprise changeup featuring token handclaps and background “ba ba bas.” Its noticeably different vibe works, and contributes additional flavor.

Despite a handful of derivative moments, Are You Ready is a successful first effort, capturing a solid back to basics approach. And with it, Murder Mystery is poised to gain some much-needed attention within the genre. The album dropped last month, and is currently available through their Myspace page and Insound. So don’t let those lengthy titles obstruct some good listening. Lesson learned.

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