Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy

Grand Rapids’ Major Murphy release their debut full-length No. 1. Available here on Limited Edition Cloudy Clear Colored LP, Black LP, CD and Cassette.

Brimming with jangly guitar, bright riffs, synth-sheened grooves, and commanding backing vocals, No. 1 reimagines 1970s radio rock with bristling sensitivity for our present era. Not quite pastiche, the lyrics of songwriter Jacob Bullard come from millennials’ unique cache of societal anxiety and ego-crises. On one hand, the technicolor and mechanized world of No. 1 is unmistakably ours: we are over-stimulated and pressured, confused and frustrated. On the other, Bullard heaves up worries seeded in adult selfhood and relationships, working for answers beyond life’s many brief and manic vanities. The album’s musical sensibilities catch all this with A-side’s sudden velocity and mechanical repetitions, and B side’s encouraging grooves and contemplative soft-rock. The sound is rich and evocative, owing in large measure to bassist Jacki Warren’s faculty for harmonic structure. Drummer Brian Voortman’s keen responsiveness to melodic progressions and emotional shifts make for concert-like, energetic recordings - in fact, most of No. 1 was recorded live, capturing how naturally Major Murphy makes music together. The result is an album that holds the kinetic charge of these three musicians. With precise control and live versatility, they never quite let the tension out. Even their dreamy soft-rock tracks have moments that feel utterly urgent, as if something dear were at stake. And isn’t there? For fans of Luke Temple, Kurt Vile, Wings and Television.

LP+ - Limited Edition Cloudy Clear Colored LP with Download.

LP - Black Vinyl with Download.

CD - Standard CD.

Tape - Standard Cassette.

Major Murphy

No. 1

Winspear
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
LP +

$19.99

Cloudy Clear

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025lp-C1

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
CD

$11.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025cd

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
LP

$17.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025lp

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
Tape

$9.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025cass

Learn more
Major Murphy

No. 1

Winspear
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
LP +

$19.99

Cloudy Clear

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025lp-C1

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
CD

$11.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025cd

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
LP

$17.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025lp

Learn more
Album artwork for No. 1 by Major Murphy
Tape

$9.99

Released 03/30/2018Catalog Number

WSP025cass

Learn more

Grand Rapids’ Major Murphy release their debut full-length No. 1. Available here on Limited Edition Cloudy Clear Colored LP, Black LP, CD and Cassette.

Brimming with jangly guitar, bright riffs, synth-sheened grooves, and commanding backing vocals, No. 1 reimagines 1970s radio rock with bristling sensitivity for our present era. Not quite pastiche, the lyrics of songwriter Jacob Bullard come from millennials’ unique cache of societal anxiety and ego-crises. On one hand, the technicolor and mechanized world of No. 1 is unmistakably ours: we are over-stimulated and pressured, confused and frustrated. On the other, Bullard heaves up worries seeded in adult selfhood and relationships, working for answers beyond life’s many brief and manic vanities. The album’s musical sensibilities catch all this with A-side’s sudden velocity and mechanical repetitions, and B side’s encouraging grooves and contemplative soft-rock. The sound is rich and evocative, owing in large measure to bassist Jacki Warren’s faculty for harmonic structure. Drummer Brian Voortman’s keen responsiveness to melodic progressions and emotional shifts make for concert-like, energetic recordings - in fact, most of No. 1 was recorded live, capturing how naturally Major Murphy makes music together. The result is an album that holds the kinetic charge of these three musicians. With precise control and live versatility, they never quite let the tension out. Even their dreamy soft-rock tracks have moments that feel utterly urgent, as if something dear were at stake. And isn’t there? For fans of Luke Temple, Kurt Vile, Wings and Television.

LP+ - Limited Edition Cloudy Clear Colored LP with Download.

LP - Black Vinyl with Download.

CD - Standard CD.

Tape - Standard Cassette.