Rick Murnane - Summer Fun (2024)

Rick Murnane isn't a household name. I've just discovered him, but if you're a fan of Marshall Crenshaw - who hasn't released anything new in several years - you may discover that the Massachusetts native is a fine substitute.

Murnane is a pop music veteran who makes vintage rock. Summer Fun is his sixth album. There is nothing progressive or alternative about this short, nine song set that clocks in at only 27:13. It's a mixture of hook filled power pop, garage rock, and British Invasion influences spiced with a little dose of country thrown in for variety.

For several years Murnane released one new song online every summer that he always removed on Labor Day. Now, these cool little tunes are back and available at Bandcamp where you can name your own purchase price at the time you download it.

Murnane explains where these songs came from. "While digging around in one of my external backup drives, I rediscovered a folder of these 'Summer Singles.' There were a couple of other standalone song projects in there as well. I gave them all a listen again, and they made me smile."

"Long story short, I decided to dust off and polish up a few favorites and re-release them as a collection. So here they are: Summer Fun. But now you can listen all year 'round. Enjoy."

The rocker composed all of the songs and played almost every instrument himself with only minimal assistance, so these tracks are truly works of his very fertile and creative mind. Among the very few who helped him are Chris Collingwood, former lead singer of Fountains of Wayne who programmed the drum track for the first song, "Monkey in the Zoo."

The album's subject matter varies. Murnane is philosophical on the opening track where he questions the conformity in our lives, and he gets downright silly on the riff filled and danceable "I Like Animals." Musical diversity is the name of the game.

The Crenshaw comparison is especially apparent on "Bring You Down" and "A Strong Kind of Love."
Murnane has mostly worked on his own songs in the studio since the unfortunate COVID lockdown in 2020, but he has also mixed and mastered recording sessions for others. The best known is singer-songwriter Cliff Eberhardt.

Murnane also opened concerts for Steve Forbert and New Jersey's very underrated John Eddie. In 1983 he was in a band that opened for The Animals during their 1983 reunion tour.

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