Calm Ya Farm

Album review

The ever-prolific Murlocs have shifted their approach yet again on 2023's Calm Ya Farm. After starting out as loose-limbed garage rockers with harmonica, they took a swing at piano ballads on 2021's Bittersweet Demons, then swerved into hard rock on 2022's Rapscallion. They've settled into their most pleasing incarnation yet on this album, mixing classic and country rock into a strutting, swaggering sound that preens like classic Faces. The one-two punch of "Initiative" and "Common Sense Civilian" kicks off the set with a rollicking, woozy feel that Rod and the lads would certainly understand. The lyrical concerns and insistent vocals of Ambrose Kenny-Smith might give them pause, though, as he doesn't sing about booze and broads, instead tackling subjects like gun violence, paranoia, and the uneasy state of the world. This dichotomy of good-time sounds and anxiety can be jarring, but ultimately songs like "Russian Roulette" and "Undone and Unashamed" cut a little deeper because of it. Alongside the low-key, feel-good rockers that make up the bulk of the record, there are a handful of songs that conjure up the spirit of Rod Stewart's less glitzy sidekick in the Faces, the inimitable Ronnie Lane. Kenny-Smith's yearning, tremulous vocals are a near cousin to Lane's, and when the Murlocs drop the swagger down a notch and boost the rambling, they capture some of the ragged tenderness of Lane at his best. "Captain Cotton Mouth" comes across like a supercharged version of his early solo work, while the waltzing "Catfish" and "Forbidden Toad" have a pleasing lightness that twinkles. Comparisons are nice, but what makes Calm Ya Farm special for the Murlocs is the confidence and craft behind the album. They don't sound like dilettantes trying out yet another sound, they feel like they hit the bull's-eye dead center and finally sound like their true selves. They can dash off rock & roll gems like "Aletophyte" with ease, deliver soulful ballads like "Queen Pinky" with subtle grace, and basically hit all points in between like a classic band. Who knows where they might go next, but right here and right now in the year 2023, one would be hard-pressed to find a better rock & roll album on the shelves.

© Tim Sendra /TiVo