Murder City Devils “Murder City Devils” 1997. Orange vinyl. This album is insanely amazing: a fast, dirty garage rock debut, released on Die Young Stay Pretty Records and distributed by Sub Pop.

We saw Murder City Devils play at O’Cayz Corral* in Madison, WI on July 3rd, 1999 and it is in the top 5 shows I’ve ever seen. The date is memorable for two reasons: 1. Joe and I had just gotten married and 2. we had to decide whether to head to Madison for this show or stay in Milwaukee and see Joe Strummer at SummerFest. We didn’t know at the time it would be one of our last opportunities to see Joe Strummer live. Still, there are few regrets to this day about that decision.

It was probably about 98 degrees that night and inside O’Cayz it had to have been topping 120 degrees. The Murder City Devils played with the Black Halos, I don’t remember who opened for who. I do remember sweat pouring, a sea of people in the small club (likely over-capacity) and fighting for a place to stand. I cannot put into words the massive energy of the show or the blistering sound and heat. I could not find many online links that give the live performances of the album’s tracks justice, though this one for “Dance Hall Music” is pretty good. “Boom Swagger Boom” is probably the catchiest track and “Broken Glass” one of the best tributes to Iggy Pop ever.

*I saw a lot of shows at O’Cayz Corral while I lived in Madison and later after moving to Milwaukee. Seemingly like most of the great venues for rock, punk, garage, etc., it was destroyed by a fire, in 2001.