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The bass starts as a drone, then adds a slow, picked riff, which accelerates and builds. The drums and bass kick in, pushing it up higher. The two women vocalists, who have been prowling around, feeling out the periphery of the stage, suddenly explode, singing, almost shouting, in rapid-fire unison. The syllables spin past you, until you clearly hear, \u201cAnother twisting of the knife\/ Another twisting of the knife. … What everybody says is always right!\u201d<\/p>\n
And so begins another White Murder show–and it only builds in intensity from there.<\/p>\n
The singers, Mary Animal and Hannah Blumenfeld, charge into the audience, or turn on each other, hugging and\/or wrestling, all the time singing every line in perfect lockstep. The band–Reuben Kaiban on guitar, Mike D\u2019Amico on bass, and Paul Gonzalez on drums–play hard and tight, and push them on relentlessly. It\u2019s a short show, but with so much energy packed into it the audience is left sated.<\/p>\n
This intensity comes naturally to the partially Long Beach-based band. \u201cThe stage show is just what we want to do,\u201d says Blumenfeld. \u201cWe really mean what we\u2019re singing, so there\u2019s an intensity that comes along with that.\u201d Gonzalez adds, \u201cI like it that Mary and Hannah get into people\u2019s faces. They get in the moment of what\u2019s going on, and that\u2019s just what comes out.\u201d <\/p>\n
Now White Murder have condensed that intensity into an album, ten bursts of power in 25 minutes. While the sound is, not surprisingly, much cleaner than a live show, none of the impact is lost; it is, instead, polished and focused. The songs tackle such topics as lust, violence and self-image (separately and together) in a blunt but still poetic manner. According to Blumenfeld, \u201cThis is a very thought out collection of songs. Reuben put a lot of thought into the track sequencing, and I think it\u2019s brilliant.\u201d <\/p>\n
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The album was recorded in two days, by Mark Rains at Station House Studio in L.A. The band was recorded live in the studio, then the women added their vocals together. It is a joint release between Razorcake and Recess Records. They especially want to thank Todd Taylor of Razorcake and Todd Congelierre of Recess Records.<\/p>\n
Blumenfeld points out, \u201cWe\u2019re really stoked that the vinyl is being put out by a group of people who really get what we\u2019re doing.\u201d Animal agrees, \u201cThis is really important to us, and it needs to be that important to the people putting it out.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gonzalez\u2019s instigation brought White Murder together in March 2011. \u201cEveryone was going through this whirlwind of life stuff happening,\u201d he explains. \u201cHannah played me a CD of her old band, and I told her, \u2018You should sing in a band again.\u2019\u201d He already knew Kaiban and D’Amico, and invited them to join.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in [Reuben\u2019s] bed, and I told him, \u2018You\u2019re not available unless you bring me with you,\u2019\u201d Animal said. She later amends this to, \u201dI did say that, if Paul was inviting him to be in a band, he should join. And I did hope to weasel my way in, even if it meant standing in the back doing shadow puppetry.\u201d They all met at the Pike, and by the end of the afternoon they were a band.<\/p>\n
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In the end, no shadow puppets were necessary; they decided to on the dual vocals approach. \u201cWe were just really drunk [when we decided to do that],\u201d Animal says. But Blumenfeld adds, \u201cI had a band in Cleveland with two female singers, and I really liked it.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was this consensus that it just sounded way more tough,\u201d Kaiban adds.<\/p>\n
The name \u201cWhite Murder\u201d came out of a later brainstorming session. It was originally Muerta Blanca, but they were advised to use English. Although the name has apparently bothers some people, Hannah says, \u201cI never meant the name to be incendiary.\u201d<\/p>\n
They played their first show, as Muerta Blanca, at Harold\u2019s in San Pedro, although their first official show as White Murder was opening for Dante vs. Zombies at the Echo in L.A.<\/p>\n
The album will be available as a vinyl LP and digital download. The LP can be purchased at Fingerprints Records and Third Eye Records in Long Beach. White Murder will have copies at their show on Sunday, January 26, at the Continental Room (115 W. Santa Fe Ave.) in Fullerton, the final night of their Sunday residency there. They will then embark on a West Coast tour in February.<\/p>\n
The new album and all of White Murder’s recordings are available at http:\/\/whitemurder.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n