EP REVIEW: NO MURDER NO MOUSTACHE- ‘Hold My Beer’ (2020)

Anti-establishment inclusive Punk Rock with Celtic influences. Sometimes acoustic, sometimes not, always Punk.

Pync Roc efo dylanwadau Celtaidd. Weithiau acwstig, weithiau ddim, wastad Pync.

Not that sure when the trend for solo artists to give themselves names more akin to groups started but it is a trend I find quite irritating! It gives off an air of being a bit high-and-mighty that doesn’t sit well with me in the down and dirty world of DIY Punk Rock. Still No Murder No Moustache may be forgiven as on first listen and without that information you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a full band.

The EP opens with ‘Hold My Beer’ and the sounds of a busy pub which may be familiar to one or two of you! It’s played as fast as hell and despite being all acoustic is definitely a Folk Punk number. Owen Crawford is the man behind No Murder No Moustache and plays all the instruments and also wrote all the songs. He has been plying his trade in a number of Metal, Punk and Rock bands based around South Wales and toured all over the UK and Europe. Lyrically it’s a hard hitting expose of society and how some people share not an ounce of compassion but are totally weighed down with greed. The words fly at you fast and the accompanying music does too but Owen has a clear and distinct voice where you catch every word.

Fast frantic acoustic guitar strumming is the key to the music here but backed up with drums and mandolin. The drums are a bit subdued and if louder would have given the EP a bit more bite but only a minor quibble. ‘Fragile Society’ definitely has some New Model Army influences knocking about with Owen sounding remarkably like Justin Sullivan at times. ‘Lose Myself To The Dark’ starts off with a traditional Irish air to it before the pace takes off and the addition of tin-whistle cannot but help! My favourite of the songs here. Some dark lyrics about hopelessness but played in a real upbeat manner meaning the jolly backing belies the subject of the song but that is the beauty of Folk music.

‘Only Lies So Far’ is the EP’s mellow song but still manages to pack a bit of a punch towards the end. The song tells of the current (hopefully as every day goes by it gets less so) crisis and the way that it has been handled and politicised for point scoring while the rest of us just try to get by.

“Forced to put our trust in the people we don’t trust How can we know truth when its been only lies so far”

The real gem here is the final song ‘Cyn Mae’r Byd Yn Cael Ei Ddinistro’ and the Welsh language has a proud history in modern music especially Punk. Anhrefn, known as the Welsh Clash, were trailblazers for a language spoken by over 20% of the population of Wales recording six albums and touring the world singing only in Welsh. The song here translates to ‘Before The World Is Destroyed’ and the mandolin is given top billing while the song sees the EP out on a slightly poppier side but still links up to the previous songs rather nicely giving the EP a perfect flow I think.

Hold My Beer was released on June 26th and Owen was the man responsible for everything from the music to the production so this is serious DIY music! Alongside the EP Owen has produced Hold My Beer twelve page fanzine that also includes a download code for just £3. Thirteen minutes or so of decent one man band Celtic-Punk then so def one to read with a cuppa while Hold My Beer plays in the background.

(Download or Stream ‘Hold My Beer’ on the Bandcamp player below)

Get Hold My Beer Bandcamp (CD/Download) SmashmouthRecords

Contact No Murder No Moustache Facebook Spotify YouTube