Casa Murilo is a pretty fresh band fronted by Englishmen Chris Winfield and Dan Hesketh. They play extremely catchy indie rock and sing about things they experienced and people they met when the two lived in Brazil. Of some reason they went to Norway to form a band. Should we wonder why such talented people ended up in Norway of all places or just embrace the fact that they’re here?
It all started a few years ago in Salvador, Brazil where they spent two years working, dancing and writing songs. They experienced lots of amazing and miraculous things and the songs on this EP are all about things that happened and people they met there. They ended up moving to Oslo in 2008 and found a bunch of norwegian guys to play in their band. Now they’ve just finished their first EP, The Waldemar Thranes Debacle and we were lucky enough to get one of the few copies they printed up. Really charming packaging, I must say.
It starts up with the energetic “Mr. Magnificent”. Already halfway into this song, the first song on the album, I’m already singing along. With its catchy refrain and clever verses, you can’t help getting hooked. They also show that they know how to describe a character, singing “Hold your breath, close your eyes / As he reassures us all with filthy lies / And we all tag along / Mr. Magnificent is chasing the sun.” Later on, “19th Floor” kicks in. I think that must be the song that stands the most out on the whole album. It’s fast-paced and catchy with lovely guitar hooks and has elements of both country and the quite typical british indie rock. A real treat.
The sound incorporates lots of different influences and though it doesn’t sound fully unique, it shines with quality. There aren’t currently too many Norwegian bands with a similar sound that are on this kind of level. The real strength of the band as of now seems to be the speedy and catchy parts, while the more mellow and slow parts are, though not bad, a lot weaker.
The EP from this still very young band has it’s ups and downs, but it’s a really promising debut and I can’t help but want more. Casa Murilo are kind enough to have their whole EP freely streamable on their myspace profile, so have a listen!