REVIEW: Obedient Wives Club - Murder Kill Baby

So, you are sitting and thinking - OK, you could be walking and thinking, that works too - and what you are thinking that you have explored much of the new music in your city, and your country, and on the other side of the US/Euro reflecting pool, and you want something that both sounds great and is new.  You quite specifically don't want to buy that new split single from Dick Cheney's Hammer Toes/Wind Feathers because you know someone will look at it in your hands and say "I loved their old stuff" (and you will agree with them, silently).  Do not despair, dear reader, because we here at WYMA have your solution: Murder Kill Baby, the new five-track EP from Singapore's Obedient Wives Club.  The essential elements of construction in this fine record are Spectorish wall of sound, jangle and distortion on the dual guitar attack, female vocals, and enduring melodies.  Quite simply, this is great stuff. I've been following the band for a couple of years, and the musical abilities and songwriting just keep getting better.

Now, here's the important and tricky part.  If you want to buy a physical copy from Soft Power records, you can't wait.  The cassettes are sold out in the pre-order stage (supposedly in fewer than three hours) and there are a limited supply of CDs.  Here is the Bandcamp link to get in on the action.  As an alternative, or when Soft Power's supply is exhausted, you can source the CDs or digital downloads from the Happy Teardrop label in Singapore.

Title track "Murder Kill Baby" is a song you'll want to put on repeat -- '60s girl group harmonies, loads of jangle and guitar effects.  "Razor Wire Love Song" features a soft/loud, slow/fast dynamic with a solo, plaintive female vocal.  But of course, the guitars kick in for the finish.  "Requiem For A Lover" has the pace and bittersweet atmosphere of that slow song played at the end of the dance.  You know, the kind of song that had everyone jockeying to dance with THE ONE that you had been aching to share the last dance with the entire evening.  The fourth track, beginning with about 45 seconds of guitar so sweet that you are willing to have it be an instrumental, is a wistful indie pop tune with a languid pace and delightful layers of sound.  The EP finishes with the grand musical statement "Thousand Tears/Broken Heart".



Obedient Wives Club is YinQi Lee (vocals and keys), Keith Tan (guitar), Cherie Ko (guitar), Sulaiman Supian (bass) and Lennat Mak (drums).

Here is a video for the title track --




After February 25, you may be able to find physical copies at the following locations: Rough Trade (UK), Norman (UK), Monorail (UK), Beethobear (Taiwan), The Stone Records (Japan), Jigsaw(US) and VollWert(Germany).  For the US buyers, Jigsaw is in Seattle and is a quality outfit (link).  I also can personally vouch for the indie bona fides of VollWert.

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Soft Power Records
Bandcamp page for Murder Kill Baby
Happy Teardrop Music