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The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer: Apocalipstick Review

If the hot French cousin of The Decemberists had a love child with the bastard son of Blues Traveler and The Black Keys you would end up with The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer.

Shawn ‘The Harpoonist’ Hall, and Matthew ‘The Axe Murderer’ Rogers have developed a unique style that borrows and yet returns sharper from a multitude of sources. Their distinct name comes out of a lyric from Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Bobby McGee’ that references the blues harp, (‘I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana’) and ‘axe’, a common term for the guitar. While the name evokes certain imagery not unlike the Coney Island freak show, if it were carved out of scrimshaw, but the sound has to be heard to be believed.

Apocalipstick is the powerful Vancouver based duo’s fourth album, and they keep getting better and better. Unique sounds abound right from the get go with “Get Ready” and it’s these little touches that truly separate these harp and guitar guys from the flock. In fact, each song has the basics covered in expected yet creative ways, but also contains some tiny element of weird science. In “Nancy,” it sounds like a kazoo is being run through a distortion pedal. As for my favorite song on the album, “Marianne” (20,000 acres of Moonlight) I could swear Kenny Loggins and Paul Simon teamed up to write the soundtrack for a movie about Jedi golfers who have affairs with their parents friends.

This album has zero clichés and it’s 100 percent addictive. I give Apocalipstick as well as The Harpoonist and the Axe Murder my highest marks.

The Review: 10/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Get Ready
– Nancy
– Pretty Please
– Forever Fool
– Fragile
– Marianne (20,000 Acres of Moonlight)

The Big Hit

– Marianne (20,000 Acres of Moonlight)

Review by Jeremy Schantz

Buy the album: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CAN

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