Muzz – Muzz review

If the word “Supergroup” gives you hives, your phobias can calm: Muzz is far more than a new a side/vanity project for Interpol’s Paul Banks, in which he’s joined by former Walkmen drummer Matt Barwick and Josh Kaufman, busy producer and some time guitarist in Bonny Light Horseman.

Banks and Kaufman go way back, having met in Spain when both were still at school and evidence of the latter’s influence runs right through Muzz, an album inspired by neo-legendary forebears such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young.  The singer for his part dials down his stentorian rasp on tender numbers like Red Western Sky and Broken Tambourine, bringing introspection to an album which lyrically often shifts to looking non-judgmentally at mental health issues.

Interpol fanatics may find themselves missing the band’s precision and economy of effort, but Knuckleduster should go at least some way towards appeasement, whilst All Is Dead To Me and Chubby Checker are chips off an entirely different and admirable block. Supergroups rarely deliver anything worthy of the title, but Muzz has a peace and subtlety that should overcome most prejudices.

You can read the full review here.