A revolution of heaviness. Tairrie B. and Mick Murphy of My Ruin have dumped L.A. and transplanted to Mick's original Knoxville soil, leaving Tairrie's hardheaded rhymes and Mick's mahogany riffs undented in transition.
Veteran My Ruin fans will require few adjustments, other than turning the antennae slightly away from metal toward straight rock ("Sweet Evil" references a 1977 Rick Derringer album), and listening to Tairrie less as a beltscreamer and more for the rap skillz that first got heads turned her way. As a certain Son once advised: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And of course she.
Though the hard-assed pro-choice anthem "Call to Action" and the roaring "Solidarity" ("Tell the truth and don't take no shit!") rank as Tairrie's most specifically political statements, she's all about setting an example of independent creativity: "Authenticity not complicity": "I'm still full of rage, I chose to disengage"; "It feels so good to not give a f*ck." The moody textures of "Monochrome" and "Magnetic" support the vampire vibe she draws on to illustrate the strength she finds in isolation.
But this is rock music, meant for crowds, not coffins. On drums as well as guitars, Mick piles up a trainload of powerful riffs over the course of 20 tracks, plucks distorto leads that actually lead you somewhere, ransacks his entire FX closet (nice wah on
"Strut"), and barks behind Tairrie on call-and-response vocals. The energy rides high on faster tracks such as the punky "Shame on You," the rhythmically accented "Low Vibe Motherf*ckers," and the stomping closer "The Kill," with its crafty slow break. "Hiss Off" has a fun doubletime vocal change.
"Very Truly Yours" is a case of the very personal becoming universal. Tairrie & Mick rock their story with passion, and by the end it feels, as the title suggests, like yours. And, y'know, Cain's and Jacob's and Moses' and David's and Jesus' and Mohammad's and Siddhartha's and Huck's.
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Listen/buy here.