Surprise Truck
2005
Surrenderender
About This Album
Murdocks begin Surrenderender with a lovable brand of infectious highbrow pop, while lead singer Franklin Morris has a certain Bono quality to his vocals. "Saddest Star" is a mid-tempo three-minute gem that Morris occasionally shouts the lyrics to à la Julian Casablancas. Everything gels here as it's the type of tune you'll repeat if only to treasure this song if the rest of the album isn't up to snuff. "Horsegore" is straight-ahead punk-meets-Detroit garage rock with drummer Ryan Cano and bassist Robert Houghton in perfect synergy. The band seem to deliver each song with a great sense for what makes quality ear candy, even it's on the downtempo but glimmering "Dance the Vomit Shakes," a song Green Day might attempt to cover during a slower moment in their live set. "Bloody Murder" goes back into high gear but seems to be too forced and too busy, a swirling punk rock number with little fanfare as the vocals sound like they're recorded in a tin can. The group also could be compared to a ragged Weezer during the crunchy, radio-friendly guitar riffs on "Title Track"; an asset in how it evolves over the course of nearly four minutes, and doesn't try to cram everything in under three- or even two-minutes.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.