Random Records with Steve O

Oh My Snare! - Murk Matinal

Tucked in pretty much at the end of 2017 was Murk Matinal, the new release from Montreal’s Oh My Snare! Our friends north of the border hit it out of the park with this one, so much so that we quickly had to find a way to include it on our best of the year bracket (where they unfortunately drew Propagandhi for a first round matchup). But Murk Matinal continues pretty much along the path laid by debut Høyeste Gang: Clever song titles, catchy tunes, thought-provoking lyrics, and a level of musicianship and composition that goes beyond the stereotypical three chord punk rock.

Opener “You Can Always Tell a Milford Man,” with its honest take on self-identification, contains one of my favorite lines on the record, both in its honesty and creativity. “I'm done challenging, I yield / I'm just not the walrus, I'm checking out / To be honest, I'm a wuss / And I'm chickening out, yes I'm chickening out / Could there in parallel dimensions be uncompromising versions of me?” There is a lot of power and emotion in this song, which has fun playing with dynamics, with a number of intense moments rearing their head. The song is an intriguing way to consider the way we think about ourselves and shows that throughout the eleven tracks here we’re in for a journey—yeah, it’s gonna be deep, but it’s gonna kick ass too and leave you with a new sense of empowerment.

Elsewhere, “加油”, which Google tells me translates to ‘refuel’ is mostly a musical jam, highlighting their ability to craft fun songs without an overreliance on lyrics, while “Happy Mask Salesman Is My Homeboy” has some fun keyboards with Lily joining to split the vocal duties. The awesomely titled “Anywhere But Home, Fuck Home” is one of the few songs here with a more traditional structure and contains a catchy chorus. I don’t feel like there are as many singalongs on Murk Matinal as were found on Høyeste Gang, perhaps a side-effect of songs focusing more on musical composition and stretching thematic elements across songs (i.e. “The Depixal Dance of Death” and “The Stelazine Stomp”). “Giants & Windmills” thematically fits with opener “You Can Always Tell a Milford Man,” as both detail personal struggles of one’s own creation. “L'Arbre Blanc,” a super-fun song about friendship, which is one of my favorite tracks here, and “Quantum Entanglement,” a more jangly number about the friendship and comradery built by touring musicians, both reappear after their initial appearance on 2016’s split with Freya Wilcox & the Howl, with the latter featuring Freya herself.

I would be remiss to mention that, in full disclosure, I consider the folks in Oh My Snare! friends. We helped them get a Chicago show a couple years back and I had the pleasure of seeing them live in their hometown of Montreal during Pouzza Fest and hanging out with them over the weekend. They’re good people who write good music. This record flows together fabulously; each song seamlessly flows into the next and they all fit into a coherent whole. I want to end this with some of the closing lines from Murk Matinal’s opener, which I have already highlighted for its lyrical brilliance. “You know, in parallel dimensions dwell versions of you strong as hell / You're not bound to always sell yourself short, you can still rebel.” It’s an incredibly important message that we all need to remember, that should probably be a sticker we put on the bathroom mirror so it’s one of the first things we see in the morning.

You can listen to Murk Matinal below and buy it directly from them through Bandcamp too! Be sure to read along, as Oh My Snare! have a ton of brilliant and meaningful lyrics throughout the record. This is one you definitely don’t wanna miss. And if you end up making those stickers, be sure to send them our way!