The Destroyers

Ladies and gents, set your facial expressions to ‘manic’, for here come The Destroyers – a fifteen members outfit conceived at the Balkan Basement jam sessions in Moseley.

Hole In The Universe is the band’s second album, and by band I mean an assembly of musically inclined misfits out to play their manic gypsy folk-punk according to their own rules.
Led by main destroyer Paul Murphy, this jolly bunch delight with thirteen tracks that lure the listener into a world dominated by assorted brass instruments, hurdy gurdy and various percussions.
Lyrically, the listener is invited to enter a sin-bin filled with tales of the weird and wondersome, with the orchestra covering a range of topics well suited for the wretched and the reckless amongst us.

Opener ‘Honga Bulgar’ is an instrumental number starting off like a gypsy funeral procession, only to descend into utter pandemonium driven on by frantic Klezmer.
Title track ‘Hole In The Universe’ has an almost apocalyptic message and touches strongly on politics and the gradual destruction of our planet and the entire universe:

“A hole no one can repair,
A hole in the cosmic underwear,
A hole no one can reverse,
There’s a hole in the universe.”

The topic stays dark with ‘Red Tape’ – a Kafka-esque nightmare about bureaucracy and Orwellian conditions. The actual music is totally contrasting, however, being a hybrid of frenzied polka and country beats. ‘Rasputin’s Revenge’ is another instrumental, though it sounds decidedly East European/Balkan as opposed to Russian, while ‘Tuba Song’ kicks in slow and mellow. While I’m not altogether sure the actual track is about a tuba, it segues into farty sounding trombone and tuba noises that gradually get the whole orchestra involved in taking up their instruments.

‘Clown Slayer’ well… I like clowns… so skip that one on the ground of its title. The sinister ‘Diamond Jones’ could well be a Balkan take on a Brecht/Weill composition – it’s bloody murder emphasized by a female chorus accusing with the lines “Deeds not words / That’s why she died / Deeds not words / That’s why she died.”

The superb instrumental ‘Black Cat’ no doubt bows to Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica. Closing track ‘On The Moon’ boasts the most complex musical arrangement of the lot; with its Vaudevillian undertones it’s a slice of demented music hall glory that switches from fast pace to floating on air and back again.

Truly twisted and energetic, Hole In The Universe should infect YOU with Balkan fever, too!