Murder Junkies

Feed My Sleaze (Alive)
by Nik Rainey

Murder Junkies are most renowned for their sympathetic backing for the gentle folk/blues stylings of crooner GG Allin in the latter stages of his illustrious career. GG departed our world over two years ago, but the clean-cut quartet (aided by the addition of the sweet trill of new vocalist Mike Denied) has re-emerged with the pithily-titled Feed My Sleaze. On it, they pick up the torch that Allin’s unforeseen demise left behind, weaving a delicate tapestry of sound worthy of GG’s loveliest musings (who can forget walking down an ivy-covered path, hand-in-hand with your loved one, the arching melody of “Eat My Fuc” whistling through the wind?). “Stiff Cold Fuck,” the wistful opener, seems to pay tribute to their fallen mentor, the lyrics properly sensitive without being lacrymose. A difficult undertaking, but the restraint the Murder Junkies are so often praised for pulls it off beautifully. And so it goes through all seven ballads, from the Buffy Saint-Marie-esque social commentary of “Mad Man’s Head” and “Destiny to Destroy” to the smile-raising wit of “Waking Up In A Pool Of Piss.” The final track, a version of the devotional standard “Jism On The Cross,” is a glorious evocation of their heretofore-hidden spiritual side which bodes well for any future endeavors in the realm of Christian rock. All in all, I would rate Feed My Sleaze up there with such classics as Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left, but (choke) it’s just not the same without GG. May his star continue to shine brightly over us all.