Murphy's Law (band)

Murphy's Law
Big B, Jimmy Drescher, Walter "Monsta" Ryan
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
GenresHardcore punk, skate punk, crossover thrash
Years active1982–present
LabelsProfile, Relativity, We Bite, Artemis, NYHC Tattoos, I Scream, Reflex/Wolfpack
Members
  • Jimmy Drescher
  • Joe James
  • Larry The Hunter
  • Gary Bennett
  • Big B
  • Walter "Monsta" Ryan
Past membersSee below
Websitemurphyslawnyhc.com

Murphy's Law is an American hardcore punk band from New York City, formed in 1982. Vocalist Jimmy Drescher[1] remains the only founding member of the band, and the line-up has consisted of numerous musicians who have performed with a diverse selection of musical acts across multiple genres, such as Skinnerbox, Danzig, The Bouncing Souls, Mucky Pup, Dog Eat Dog, Hanoi Rocks, Fishbone, Agnostic Front, Warzone, the Cro-Mags, D Generation, New York Dolls, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The Slackers, Thursday, Skavoovie and the Epitones, White Trash and Glen Campbell. Over the course of their career, Murphy's Law has released five albums, the last of which, The Party's Over, was released in 2001.

History

Murphy's Law's self-titled debut album was released in 1986. Their second album, Back with a Bong!, was released in 1989 on Profile Records,[2] and subsequently re-released on Another Planet Records in 1994, with the previous self-titled album on the same disc. The band underwent a transformation, with Jimmy Drescher being the only remaining member.[2] Alex Morris had been replaced on guitar by Todd Youth – previously of fellow New York City hardcore bands, Agnostic Front and Warzone, and later of Danzig. Chuck Valle replaced Pete Martinez on bass, and Doug E. Beans took over drumming duties from Petey Hines. In 1989, Murphy's Law opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Mother's Milk tour.[3]

Stylistically, Murphy's Law made a jump on The Best of Times (1991). While the band dabbled in skacore long before it exploded, The Best of Times combined funk, reggae, ska, and hardcore. The album was produced by Fishbone's John "Norwood" Fisher and Philip "Fish" Fisher, containing guest instrumentation from several members of Fishbone.

Dedicated was released by Another Planet on March 19, 1996.[2] The label had already picked up the rights to their previous material from Profile Records and in 1994 had released a split CD with the self-titled and Back with a Bong! albums on the same disc.

Dedicated was produced by Daniel Rey, who also wrote "Greenbud" on the album. It follows 1993's Good for Now EP and the 1991 studio album The Best of Times. Dedicated was dedicated to former bass player, Chuck Valle, who was killed in a knife related incident in 1994.[2] His picture appears on the back page of the CD inlay and a picture of a tattoo inscribed with the words "In Memory of Chuck" appears on the jewel case inlay. The band did not record another album until The Party's Over in 2001,[4] but released singles, compilations, and split EPs with other bands in between. In 2002 Reflex/Wolfpack Records released a European vinyl pressing of The Party's Over.

In 2002, the band appeared in Matthew Barney's film Cremaster 3 along with Agnostic Front.[5] In 2004, the song "Vicky Crown" appeared in a music video montage featuring Nick Mondo in the game Backyard Wrestling 2. In 2008, the song "A Day in the Life" was featured, as well as Jimmy G. himself as the DJ of Liberty City Hardcore (L.C.H.C)[6] radio station in the action videogame Grand Theft Auto IV.

On April 12, 2010, Murphy's Law announced in a MySpace blog entry that they were working on a sixth studio album as well as a DVD and vinyl reissues of their back catalog.[7] On May 4, 2011, it was announced that Murphy's Law were signed to I Scream Records, who were scheduled to release the band's first studio album of original material since 2001's The Party's Over, as well as reissues of their back catalog. The reissued albums were released on CD, digital download, and vinyl in 2014 with previously unreleased bonus tracks. There had been no news or updates on new music from Murphy's Law until April 2025, when the band announced that they were in the studio recording a new album.[8] Their first song in 24 years, "Go, Jimmy, Go!", was released digitally as a single in October 2025.[9][10]

Members

Current members

  • James Drescher – lead vocals (1982–present)
  • Joe James – guitars
  • Larry The Hunter – guitars
  • Gary Bennett – guitars
  • Walter "Monsta" Ryan – drums
  • Big B – bass

Past members

Timeline

{{#tag:timeline |ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:100 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1982 till:02/01/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1982 ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1982 Legend = position:bottom orientation:vertical columns:3

Colors = 

id:Vocals     value:red          legend:Vocals
id:Guitar     value:green        legend:Guitar
id:Bass       value:blue         legend:Bass
id:Sax        value:tan2         legend:Saxophone
id:Trom       value:coral        legend:Trombone
id:Trump      value:skyblue      legend:Trumpet
id:Drums      value:orange       legend:Drums
id:studio     value:black        legend:Album

BarData = 

bar:Drescher    text:"Jimmy Drescher"

bar:Morris     text:"Alex Uncle Al Morris"
bar:Youth      text:"Todd Youth"
bar:JFlanagan  text:"Jack Flanagan"
bar:Martino    text:"Rod Martino"

bar:Mucci      text:"Adam Mucci"
bar:Martinez   text:"Pete Martinez"
bar:Valle      text:"Chuck Valle"
bar:Rispler    text:"Dean Rispler"
bar:Lithog     text:"Felipe Lithgow"

bar:Raven      text:"Raven (Seaton Chuck Hancock III)"
bar:Moore      text:"Angelo Moore"
bar:Mayo       text:"Scott Mayo"

bar:Dowd       text:"Christopher Dowd"
bar:Young      text:"Reggie Young"
bar:Baker      text:"Jeff Django Baker"

bar:Kibby      text:"Walter Kibby III"
bar:Pullam     text:"Fernando Pullam"
bar:Dulin      text:"Danny Dulin"

bar:HFlanagan  text:"Harley Flanagan"
bar:Hines      text:"Petey Hines"
bar:Deans      text:"Doug Beans"
bar:McDermott  text:"Michael McDermott"
bar:Arve       text:"Eric Goat Arce"
bar:Ara        text:"Chris Ara"

LineData = 

layer:back
color:studio
at:06/01/1983
at:08/01/1986
at:06/01/1989
at:11/05/1991
at:03/19/1996
at:05/22/2001

PlotData= 

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Drescher     from:start        till:end         color:Vocals

bar:Morris      from:start        till:12/31/1986  color:Guitar
bar:Youth       from:12/31/1989   till:12/31/1991  color:Guitar
bar:JFlanagan   from:01/01/1993   till:12/31/1993  color:Guitar
bar:Youth       from:01/01/1996   till:12/31/1996  color:Guitar
bar:Martino     from:01/01/2018   till:end         color:Guitar

bar:Mucci       from:start        till:12/31/1983  color:Bass
bar:Martinez    from:01/01/1986   till:12/31/1986  color:Bass
bar:Valle       from:01/01/1989   till:12/31/1993  color:Bass
bar:Rispler     from:01/01/1996   till:12/31/1996  color:Bass
bar:Lithog      from:01/01/2007   till:end         color:Bass

bar:Raven       from:start        till:12/31/1983  color:Sax
bar:Moore       from:01/01/1989   till:12/31/1991  color:Sax
bar:Mayo        from:01/01/1991   till:12/31/1991  color:Sax
bar:Raven       from:01/01/1996   till:12/31/1996  color:Sax
bar:Raven       from:01/01/2018   till:end         color:Sax

bar:Dowd        from:01/01/1989   till:12/31/1989  color:Trom
bar:Young       from:01/01/1991   till:12/31/1991  color:Trom
bar:Baker       from:01/01/1993   till:12/31/1993  color:Trom

bar:Kibby       from:01/01/1989   till:12/31/1989  color:Trump
bar:Pullam      from:01/01/1991   till:12/31/1991  color:Trump
bar:Dulin       from:01/01/1993   till:12/31/1993  color:Trump

bar:HFlanagan   from:start        till:12/31/1983  color:Drums
bar:Hines       from:01/01/1986   till:12/31/1986  color:Drums
bar:Deans       from:01/01/1989   till:12/31/1991  color:Drums
bar:McDermott   from:01/01/1993   till:12/31/1993  color:Drums
bar:Arve        from:01/01/1996   till:12/31/1996  color:Drums

Discography

References

  1. ^ "The Most Influential Figures of NYHC: Jimmy G. (Murphy's Law) | Features". Noecho.net. June 19, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 311. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
  3. ^ Locey, Bill (April 9, 1992). "MUSIC MURPHY'S LAW : Suds 'n' Sounds : The band, known for its 'loud, grungy' style, is promoting a new album, which contains the tune 'Beer Bath.' So beware". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  4. ^ Punknews.org (March 19, 2017). "Murphy's Law - The Party's Over". punknews.org. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "Cremaster 3 (2002)". IMDb.com. May 25, 2003. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Liberty City Hardcore - Grand Theft Wiki, the GTA wiki". Grandtheftwiki.com. October 21, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  7. ^ "New Murphy'S Law Album, A Dvd, And Some Other Cool Shit In The Works! Van Murphy'S Law Op Myspace". Myspace.com. April 13, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  8. ^ "Murphy's Law - Recording First Long Player In 24 Years". Metal Storm. April 29, 2025. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  9. ^ "Murphy's Law - Release First Song In 24 Years". Metal Storm. October 18, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  10. ^ "Murphy's Law release "Go, Jimmy, Go", first new single in 24 years and new album on the way". lambgoat.com. October 18, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
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