The Murder Capital played ONCE – 3/11

Irish post-punks The Murder Capital played their first-ever U.S. show in Somerville on Wednesday night. 

Amid the worsening pandemic and crises personal and national squeezing our collective head in a vice, this seemed like a pretty good week to steep oneself in the brand of dour, dread-soaked moodiness purveyed by Dublin quintet The Murder Capital. In what could be among the last of greater Boston’s club gigs for the foreseeable future, the band teamed up with local punks Rude for an evening of sorely-needed catharsis.

You’ll often hear The Murder Capital mentioned in the same breath as fellow Dublin upstarts Fontaines D.C., whose profile has risen a bit more noticeably in the past year, but the James McGovern-fronted outfit offers up a distinctly world-weary counterpoint to Fontaines’ boyish spark. Tunes like “For Everything” and “More Is Less” – the opening one-two from the band’s debut LP When I Have Fears – bubble over with the kinetic push to get bodies moving, but their patiently brooding ballads carry heft too.

McGovern and company didn’t shy from either extreme during Wednesday’s tense and electric set, quietly enrapturing a sizable ballroom crowd one minute and sending beers flying the next. The crew had charisma and stage presence to spare, and while world circumstances have forced a postponement of the remainder of their first U.S. trek, here’s hoping they make it back stateside soon.

Boston’s Rude rounded out the night with a satisfying dose of more traditionally snotty punk rock. Check out photos of both sets below.