Musk Hog: Musk Hog
The husband and wife duo of Max and Katie Munger finally released their eponymous debut after nearly a decade of performing. Musk Hog is 12 songs of grimy, Stones-influenced rock 'n' roll that brings to mind another (former) husband and wife team—but not the more famous one.
Musk Hog is cut from a similar cloth as Royal Trux, just not as heroin-y. The album is full of rock bottom blues-rock, sleazy slide guitars and reductive funk rhythms. But the duality in the Mungers' romance-as-ugliness vocal duets is deservedly the main focus here.
Despite the comparison, Musk Hog is a lighter listen than anything by Royal Trux. While on the surface it seems there aren't as many weirdness detours as with Royal Trux, bubbling underneath the saturation of dirt are the same reckless abandon and experimentation sans overwhelming nihilism.
"Corridor of Death" might be the most immediately catchy song on the album. A slow-burning groove frames the great metaphor of the lyrics and title (it's about living in the desert, not dying).
The poignant, desperate "Partner in Crime" separates the monologue into a conversation between the Mungers, and in the same manner as the rest of Musk Hog, breathes fresh new life into the deadest of rock 'n' roll clichés.
