The Murder Capital - The Marble Factory - 24th February 2023

On The Murder Capital’s tour for their new album, Gigi’s Recovery, the band take their art apart and put it into practice. The concert is a riot, and The Murder Capital make a killing.

James McGovern gives new definition to what a frontman can be. He takes elements from Joy Division’s Ian Curtis in his baritone delivery, then steals away with Kasabian’s Tom Meighan’s ability to rile up a crowd until they’ll carry you home. McGovern’s songs suck the soul from the room; people hold their breath when they’re not singing the words.

There’s a newness there, too; a part that’s all his own. He has the voice of a goth from a skipped generation. It’s an attitude he pairs with black sunglasses and, considering the context, it feels like wearing casualwear to confession.

In the landscape of flourishing post-modern and post-punk Irish bands – think of Fontaines D.C or Just Mustard - The Murder Capital may well pose the bleakest perspective of the place. The album Gigi’s Recovery – one which documents sobriety, poverty, and mental health in a tell-all display of honesty – is a psychological exorcism.

The moshes – which begin at ‘More Is Less’, continue into ‘Slowdance II’, and reach their zenith at ‘Green and Blue’ - are the physical flipside. The stage and crowd work through their feelings in instinctually opposite ways, but both end in catharsis. It all feels like desperation, but the best possible kind; wanting something so badly that the feeling leaves bruises.

Raised up by moody symphonies and discordant drumbeats, The Murder Capital stake their claim on the post-punk scene through the heart. They leave the audience exhilarated and the stage without fanfare; the exhausted applause soundtracks their final Irish exit.