It’s not a Murkage ting.

Dave Lewis, alias Murkage Dave, along with his merry band of Murkage Cartel members, has become something of a Manchester celebrity over the past year. Their night, every Thursday at club South, has become undeniably popular and sells out consistently while the music of the band itself is gaining significant publicity (as a recent feature in The Guardian might suggest) as well as a considerable number of fans. The question is, why?

“Fuck standing around posing like a dickhead” so reads The Murkage Club Facebook group and yet, as anyone who has been to Murkage can probably attest, this is exactly what the Murkage Cartel can be found doing every Thursday night (or any other night of the week, for that matter). Despite this, people still flock to Murkage. A text received from a friend last Thursday, informing me that the whole club was participating in a sing-along of Murkage’s ‘Torches’, confirmed to me that I’d rather be doing literally anything else.

‘Torches’ itself, their most recent release, is nothing short of absurd. “Set it off/Kick down doors/Leave your city in flames/Murkage is a freight train” goes the chorus. Stirring stuff. Some have misinterpreted the track as encouraging violence and an article on The Guardian’s music blog suggests that the contentious nature of the lyrics has meant that the track “has run into difficulty when it comes to radio play.” I would suggest that it’s not that the lyrics are controversial which has led to the track’s limited airplay but rather that because they are, along with the rest of the track, just a bit shit. Band member Gaika is quoted as saying “This is the exact opposite of inciting riots”. I’m inclined to disagree. This is a track which could quite feasibly bore people into rioting.

In ‘Paperweight’, released in early 2011, a voice commands “Play the music louder!” over and over again. That’s fine by me, so long as it’s not a song by Murkage. Perhaps it’s my fault- maybe it’s just too cool for me. Maybe I just don’t understand, but I get the feeling that I’m not the only one.