It took some time, but eventually demand outpaced Deathconsciousness’ supply, and an increasingly growing base of fans for this obscure, elusive duo led to proper CD and vinyl pressings via Barrett’s Enemies List label.

Barrett and Macuga didn’t expect the album to move like hotcakes, yet the sheer volume of powerful, gut-wrenching industrial and post-punk sounds, not to mention attention to detail in its packaging, revealed a band that really did seem to give a shit, even if they didn’t expect anyone else to. But after five years and presumably a lot of hard work, the group recorded a dense, sprawling two-disc debut album titled Deathconsciousness, limited to 100 CD-R copies, each of which also each included a 100-page booklet. The project of then-unknown Massachusetts musicians and songwriters Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga, Have a Nice Life took shape when the duo began performing in coffeehouses and open mics, and subsequently released a series of demos that weren’t circulated widely outside their own ZIP code.

Not so much.The launch of Have a Nice Life’s ascent toward becoming a revered cult band is a case study in contradictions. And after hearing about his good woman and his flush bank account (which I’m a bit skeptical about considering he’s on a label I’ve never heard of and is, well, Murs) we get to listen to what amounts to a weak version of an early Ice Cube album - and an obvious obsession with “It Was a Good Day,” which should be obvious enough given the title of the album - overlaid with what I assume he thinks are those radio-friendly choruses. The rest of the album takes a bit of a different bent, saying the word “hood” at least 27 billon times and PTSD another 4 billion. I mean, I think I’ve liked at least one this guy’s albums in the past, but this was a real buzz kill. So it’s instantly disappointing that Murs would go that way out the gate.

Look, I’m no cheerleader for the G-man, but when athletes basically say, “I’m not great, I’m just blessed by Jesus with a 50″ vertical and a 4.3 forty that allows me to juke motherfuckers,” I think even their lord and savior wants to tell them to shut the fuck up. That’s how Murs starts off this album with an odd God-centric track that basically talks about his comfy life, his faithful wife and his willingness to create radio-friendly music. The humble brag isn’t a good look for a rapper.

Have a nice life albums