Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5

Murder and the Art of Dance (Chicken Ranch)

If it’s closing time, and a circus barker trapped you in the circus freak-show tent, fear not. Let Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 be your soundtrack to escape. Such is the Austin act that acknowledges Ennio Morricone, Esquivel, and Alice Cooper as influences with results that definitely rattle bones. Murder and the Art of Dance is their nine-track debut to send you 2000 light-years from home to the next whiskey bar. Dark, yes. Goth, no. The tangolike beat of “A Shot and a Smile” sidles up to the cabaret-ish “Faith, Hope and Broken Glass,” led by Greg Lewis’ gritty vocals, while “Black Coffee Night” and the minor-key seduction of “Last Night’s Polka” inspire descriptive phrases like “experimental noir.” When Tim Burton tires of Danny Elfman, Mr. Lewis may be available.

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This article appears in July 6 • 2007.

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