Murder is good again

Murder By Death’s newest release, “Good Morning Magpie,” is another impressive entry in its arsenal of alt-folk rock unusualness. The band reaches into a long-gone age, impressing listeners with the same loving dedication to an era as an attendant at a medieval fair. The album is a collection of songs that could be just as appropriate in any old saloon (granted its patrons wouldn’t be scared by an electric violin).

Vocalist/guitarist Adam Turla channels Johnny Cash’s growl while the group hangs back on many tracks, slowly adding themselves in at the appropriate times.

Each track has its own stand-alone feel, but nothing particularly stands out as an obvious single or filler. “Yes” works as a cheerful song that keeps evoking (in this reviewer’s child-like mind) memories of Raffi’s “Banana Phone.”

The album asks not to be placed on anyone’s list of favorites, yet it exists as a perfect soundtrack for the oncoming summer as you sit back on your porch with a glass of “Kentucky Bourbon.”