New York, NY (Top40 Charts) In its mere thirteen minute and twenty six second duration Tales From The Megaplex is a briefly unrelenting volume of DIY pop that propels its creator, Count Vaseline [real name, Stefan Murphy] a step further into the haunted category marked 'uncategorizable'. With influences that range from circa '86-era british indie pop to the 1966 heroin-pop of the
Velvet Underground, the album draws inspiration from from The
Modern Lovers, Suicide,Go-Betweens, Wire and The Fall but manages to remain poppy and endearing. It also features a cover of Ween's 'I'll be your Johnny On The Spot' which sounds more like Gun Club than the Pennsylvania duo, who Murphy adores. The album releases November 17th in the US and November 24th in
Europe and the UK on Vinyl, CD and digital.
"I've churned out 3 albums in a year and its been a lot of fun, especially learning how to play all the instruments myself and so forth. I'd be honored to be mentioned alongside the likes of Ariel Pink, R.Stevie Moore, Television Personalities or even Ween. Artists that basically get on with what they are doing regardless of whats happening culturally in the world around them at that time. I'd love to be thought of like that. Though if i'm to be truly honest, I'd probably like to morph into some kind of unsexy middle-aged man version of Lana Del Rey." - Count Vaseline [The Thin Air Magazine]
"Hail Hail John Cale" floats a wry controversy suggesting that John Cale was way cooler than his VU counterpart Lou Reed. The title track "Tales from The Megaplex" likens the human brain to a busy shopping centre in Murphy's home town of Dublin, Ireland. "Texas Band" and "What Is Your Name" share a similarly poppy feel. "A Song For Tom" is darkly disco and somewhat elusive tribute to an acquaintance who passed away. "Town Of Horseheads" is a song about two tribes meeting on neutral ground to either make peace or wipe each other off the face of the planet.
Stefan Murphy is based in Atlanta, originally from Dublin, Ireland. He moved to the US last year following a spell living in Berlin, Germany. Though more than a year clean and sober, ghosts of Murphy's battles with excess, together with struggles with mental health have haunted his fiery musical output since coming to the States. His debut Yo No Soy Marinero and its follow up
Cascade were released on Murphy's own OCDC tape-centric record label. Both received great critical appraisal.
Murphy has some underground recognition in Ireland as well as across
Europe and the US from the 8 or so years he spent touring with his previous incarnation 'The Mighty Stef' who also released four full length albums in that time, the last of which Year Of The Horse brought chart success in Ireland [#8] and was produced in Los Angeles by Alain Johannes (PJHarvey / Queens Of The Stone Age) .
Count Vaseline is an inspired songwriter and producer, a devout storyteller and a passionate performer. His shows to date have ranged from full band productions to singing along to a ten Euro cassette player. It's never dull. It's always real. Try and catch it as it passes by.
Find the Count at https://www.facebook.com/countvaseline/
Upcoming Shows: [with more to be announced]
Oct 30th - Photo City Improv - Rochester NY w/ Dead Boys 40th Anniversary
Oct 31th - Lucky 13 - Brooklyn NY w/ Dead Boys 40th Anniversary
Nov 2nd - Jon & Peters - New Hope PA w/ Dead Boys 40th Anniversary
Nov 15th - Under The Volcano -
Houston TX
Nov 16th - MASS - Fort Worth TX
Nov 17th - TBC - Austin TX
Nov 18th - Faust - San Antonio TX
