Seattle gave birth to the biggest musical movement of the ’90s and is the home to the label that started it all – Sub Pop Records.
In 1998, the LA Times published an article titled The Rise and Fall of Grunge which attributed the end of alternative guitar music at the time to three things: the death of Kurt Cobain, Soundgarden’s break up and Pearl Jam’s falling record sales. But rather than abandon rock music altogether, Sub Pop Records continued to work with Washington State’s most promising new acts and that year, they released Empty Bottles Broken Hearts by an relatively new band from Seattle, The Murder City Devils.
Musically, there are some real mood changes on Empty Bottles Broken Hearts. The opening tracks steamroll through until the middle of the record where songs like Cradle To The Grave and the bluesy Dear Hearts reveal a much more sensitive temperament. This time Moody’s painful howls emanate from the bottom of the bottle as he bares his soul with the line, ‘I’ve got a preacher’s mouth, and a rock and roll heart’. The pronounced use of a Farfisa organ helps embellish the darker and more emotional side to The Murder City Devils sound.
There’s no fakery in The Murder City Devils’ music and herein lies the truth of what rock and roll is all about. Empty Bottles Broken Hearts remains the soundtrack to our self-destructive desires. See you at the bar.
For more information on The Murder City Devils, visit their official website.
