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Cantilever by Jeff Murphy
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fave it Power Pop | Beatles-pop
11 tracks | 35 minutes
Released Jan 2007
on Black Vinyl Reco
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for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:08 I'm a Tool For You lyrics BUY MP3 03:08 I'm a Tool For You lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:08 I'm a Tool For You
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:00 A Couple of Words lyrics BUY MP3 03:00 A Couple of Words lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:00 A Couple of Words
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:25 Never Let You Go lyrics BUY MP3 03:25 Never Let You Go lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:25 Never Let You Go
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:41 Havin' a Bad Day lyrics BUY MP3 02:41 Havin' a Bad Day lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:41 Havin' a Bad Day
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:37 You're An Icon lyrics BUY MP3 03:37 You're An Icon lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:37 You're An Icon
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:40 You Never Listen to Me lyrics BUY MP3 03:40 You Never Listen to Me lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:40 You Never Listen to Me
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:50 Some Day Soon lyrics BUY MP3 02:50 Some Day Soon lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:50 Some Day Soon
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:14 It Happens All the Time lyrics BUY MP3 03:14 It Happens All the Time lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:14 It Happens All the Time
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:57 She Don't Drive lyrics BUY MP3 02:57 She Don't Drive lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:57 She Don't Drive
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:25 Won't Take Yes For An Answer lyrics BUY MP3 03:25 Won't Take Yes For An Answer lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:25 Won't Take Yes For An Answer
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:03 Unconditional Love lyrics BUY MP3 03:03 Unconditional Love lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:03 Unconditional Love
The first solo disc by SHOES' member Jeff Murphy that harkens back to a stripped-down, home-recorded approach ala Emitt Rhodes or the first McCartney disc. Lotsa melodies and harmonies.
Editorial review
A mere thirty years after Shoes emerged from their Zion, Illinois basement with the homemade masterpiece Black Vinyl Shoes, Jeff Murphy has struck out on his own with his first solo album, and while it's any guess what this means in terms of the band's slow but steady career as the Godfathers of the pop underground, anyone who has acquired a taste for Shoes' smart, classically-crafted power pop with a smart and witty edge will fall in love with Murphy's Cantilever. According to the liner notes, Murphy wrote all eleven songs on Cantilever, played all the instruments, and recorded the tunes in his home studio, and while his engineering smarts has gotten keener all these years later, his musical instincts are thankfully little changed. Murphy is still obsessed with girls and melodic hooks in equal measure, and both figure prominently on Cantilever, from the playful double entendres of the mandolin-driven "I'm A Tool For You" and the jangly-noisy counterpoint guitars of "Never Let You Go" to the {new wave}-addled funk and emotional uncertainty of "A Couple Of Words" and the Brian Wilson-esque plea for "Unconditional Love". Which is not to say this album is just a set of stylistic retreads -- the blues figures of "She Don't Drive" are out of ordinary for Murphy, as is the acoustic-based poignance of "Some Day Soon". But the best pop has a timeless quality that can draw from the past and the present at the same time, and that's just what Murphy has done on Cantilever; for all his vintage pop influences and long history, Murphy has fashioned a record that sounds fresh and exciting, and this album ranks with his strongest and most engaging work to date. Do John Murphy and Gary Klebe have anything this interesting in the works as well? ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
Jeff Murphy, from the perenial band SHOES, ventures out on his own in this first solo CD. This 11-song collection was self-produced and engineered at home, in the spirit of the first McCartney album, Emitt Rhodes early works and Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything". Foregoing the use of sequencers, drum machines and the "cut and paste" mentality that dominates much of today's music. Murphy plays all of the instruments on "Cantilever" and returns to the days of real, organic instruments actually played by a human being instead of being programmed and triggered by a computer. The end result is a return to the feel and mood of early works by SHOES with a more stripped-down sound that really allows the melodies and individual instruments to show through.