- Who knew there was an anti-capitalist dance music shaped hole in your life? Dan Murhpy’s (sic.) did! I’m not sure what the anarchic, anonymous beatmaker behind the four cuts of DIY electro-industrial techno that reshape Dan Murphy’s marketing strategy into a brutal rave has against the cut-price liquor mart, but they’re making their complaint with great force.
I actually looked it up to see if I’d missed some kind of 7-11-ish public relations horror involving the ubiquitous chain, but the only thing I could find was the people of the Northern Territory getting a bit upset that the government wouldn’t allow Dan Murhpys to set up in Darwin. Still, I’m always prepared to be cynically surprised by what businesses haven’t fessed up to yet...
So much for corporate controversy, let’s check out the music. The formula isn’t especially complex, but it is severe. The techno comes flying at you a little bit lo-fi and indistinct but also with an electro snap that cuts through the miasma; the alarming qualities are rounded out by a patina of industrial filth, which is largely delivered by vocals and vocal samples processed into almost incomprehensible, metallic echoes.
I don’t know how experienced the eponymous Dan Murphy’s is as a producer -some of this little EP is pretty rough around the edges- but he namechecks a nice array of influences, sourcing his techno inspirations from L.I.E.S. Records and L.A. Club Resource, while finding kindred socialist spirits in the work of venerable, anti-capitalist collagists like Negativland and keying into the pure industrial hate spewing out of the endless font for it that is Consumer Electronics. Oh and you’ll find most of Consumer Electronics’ influence squeezed into the EP’s final number, Attention Customers, which, despite possessing a frenetic beat can never hope to outdance the roar of metallic screeching that obliterates the Dan Murphy’s employee calmly asking shoppers to finalise their purchases and leave; well that’s one way to close up.
A lot of the ‘vocals’ are given over to reprising Dan Murphy’s promotional messages and the like and it’s kind of nice to be dragged back to this sort of over-the-top, satirical treatment. Although the musical delivery is very different from the diverse, experimental oddity that is Negativland, the commitment to regurgitating commercial drivel is very similar. There have been other sounds doing this sort of thing since the heyday of the Bay Area disruptors, like the whole genre of Vaporwave, for instance, but I wonder if its pale, ironic poseurs have the same political punch? To be honest, though this is never limp-wristed, I don’t even know if the music here is anti-Dan Murhpys. When the producer injects some of his own lyrics like “Don’t even know the difference between / Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris / Don’t even know what those words mean,” which appears, completely inaudibly, on single Tasting Cart, well that’s politically non-committal and, you know what? A friendly Dan Murphys representative can help you with that.
I’m not sure if I’d call this the best satire, but like the best satire Dan Murphy’s has certainly got me thinking. Whatever else it is, these ripping techno cuts are my jam, even if they are rough-as-guts. I’m keen to hear more of DM’s stuff in the future, to see what the seeds here would germinate; that is if we ever find out who this anonymous producer is. I’m pretty sure the other Dan Murphys, if they got wind of this, would like to know and for that reason we may all be left in the dark. Not that it narrows the field much, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the individual in question may have been employed by Dan Murphys, at some stage.
- Chris Cobcroft.