By David O’Neill
Celtic folk punk troubadour No Murder No Moustache has never exactly been short on heart, but new album ‘As Everything Else Decays’ feels like the moment Owen Crawford properly swings for the fences. Framed as his most personal work to date, it welds kitchen‑sink reflection to barricade‑ready resistance songs, all while keeping a pint‑in‑the‑air sense of mischief close at hand.
After the brief scene‑setting of ‘Intro (A Moment Of Reflection)’, ‘A Demon In The Dark’ barrels in on a surge of melodic punk, whistle and guitar lines jousting as Crawford picks at his own shadows without ever losing the chant‑along chorus.
History and politics get a fiery airing on ‘Dic Penderyn’ and ‘Sending The Soldiers In’, the former dragging a Welsh martyr’s story into the present, the latter spitting bile at state violence over a rousing Celtic stomp.
When he leans into straight-up hooks – the ragged camaraderie of ‘Wasted’, the bruised optimism of ‘Second Chance’ – you can almost see the festival fields bouncing along.
‘As Darkness Falls’ is the album’s real curveball, and that contrast is exactly why it lands so hard. Where much of ‘As Everything Else Decays’ leans on driving Celtic punk rhythms and shout‑along choruses, this one reins everything in, favouring a slower, more spacious arrangement that lets Crawford’s vocal sit exposed and vulnerable. The whistles and gang vocals take a back seat to a more restrained, almost folk‑noir atmosphere, underlining the lyric’s sense of loss.
Dropping a track this subdued in the middle of so much rowdy catharsis does more than just break up the pacing; it sharpens the emotional stakes of the whole record. Coming after the likes of ‘A Demon In The Dark’ and ‘Dic Penderyn’, ‘As Darkness Falls’ feels like the comedown when the bar lights snap on, the moment when bravado slips and the doubts crawl back in. That tonal swerve makes the later anthems hit harder, too: when the closing ‘Raise Your Glasses’ rolls around, its ragged optimism feels earned rather than automatic, because we’ve heard what it sounds like when the noise dies and the darkness actually has a voice.
Crucially, the trademark absurdist streak survives the soul‑searching. ‘Tested On Animals’ and ‘Grey Tracksuit’ keep the wink alive, skewering modern idiocies without undercutting the more earnest material. By the time ‘Raise Your Glasses’ closes things out, you’ve been through corrupt governments, mental health dips, bad decisions and tiny everyday humiliations, but the takeaway is stubbornly hopeful.
‘As Everything Else Decays’ doesn’t just capture the live energy Crawford talks about; it plants No Murder No Moustache firmly in the top tier of the current Celtic punk underground.
Keep music live and get to a show, you won’t regret it!
- ‘As Everything Else Decays‘ will be released on Friday (27 February).
- No Murder No Moustache supports All For Jolly at Fuel in Cardiff, also on Friday (27 February).
- We spoke to NMNM/Owen Crawford for the most recent episode of our #SmallStagesBigSound podcast:
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