Get Away with Murder

“I’ll be honest and say I was surprised there were so many other sparkles on this record. It’s filled right up with great songs. Like… All the way up.“ – Steve Fenton of Phonotonal

Get Away with Murder is the culmination of 2 years of hard work. Sully Dunn wrote most of the songs during the early days of COVID in 2020 with two notable exceptions: “Motocross“, which was written in 2021 about the friend group he made from playing with Understatement, and “Knowledge” which is a faithful cover of Operation Ivy’s punk classic, sung by Bala Rice. Recording began in April 2021 when they tracked “Hell Who Cares” and the first 3 songs, but those were shelved and put on a CD-exclusive EP as Understatement started from scratch in September 2021 with Razorblade Recordings. The band was in the studio finishing the album until just a few weeks before its release on CD and streaming on April 15th 2022. In the interim, they played dozens of gigs, refining their sound and writing new material. 

The album release show for Get Away with Murder happened on the same day at Eden: a now-defunct DIY basement venue in South Oakland where Understatement filmed the “Motocross” music video, played 7 gigs total, and amassed a large portion of their fanbase. Being the in college town, it was imperative to release their album before the end of April when semester concluded at the University of Pittsburgh and many of the fans went away. Alongside Understatement, Lifeguard and Back Alley Sound performed that night. The latter was the band that played a vital role in Bala becoming immersed in Pittsburgh’s local music scene back in 2017, and several of the members were once roommates with Sully. Through Back Alley Sound, the two became friends, so there would likely be no Understatement if not for them.

Get Away with Murder saw a cassette release on October 28th 2022 via Hidden Blade and a vinyl release via Funky Frankenstein on January 19th 2023.