• Dead Soldiers – Dirge-ing and Dancing

    Artist:
    Album:
    Rob Dickens Posted On March 29, 2017
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    From Memphis Tennessee

    Dead Soldiers

    Reveal

    The Great Emptiness

     

    I would love to seem them strut their stuff live.

    Memphis Tennessee band Dead Soldiers are about to release their second album The Great Emptiness (released on American Grapefruit) this week – 31 March 2017.

    Since 2011 the band has been writing and performing, boasting a core group Michael Jasud (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Benjamin Aviotti (Vocals/Banjo/Guitar), Clay Qualls (Vocals/Bass/Mandolin), Krista Wroten-Combest (Vocals/Violin/Keys), Nathan Raab (Guitar/Mandolin/Bass/Keys), and Paul Gilliam (Drums).

    Recent showings at SXSW (South-By-Southwest) in Austin and Memphis’ own Beale Street Festival continue the momentum for this energetic band with much promise.

    The Great Emptiness opens with the compelling, rolling ‘When I Die, such a passionate statement.  ‘White Collar Blues’ and ‘Teddy Bears’ exhibit ramshackle rawness.  ‘Old Time Religion’ provides crowing harmonies while ‘Still Climbing The Mountain’ and ‘Georgia Tann’ show a tender side, the former building to an emotional crescendo. ‘A Love Song’ could have been recorded in a bar given its brassy earth-iness.  ‘The Smartest Man In The World’ contains some sharp insights and a gloriously full sound.  There are urgent warnings a-plenty in ‘Prophets of Doom’ (see clip below), the second single from the collection.  The closing ‘Cheap Magic’ leaves us with a strong image of The Great Emptiness. 

    Dead Soldiers are known to enlist an array of personnel from the Memphis music scene whenever there is space on the stage or the studio, and the collaborative, fun approach is one of the triumphs of this record.

    I have been to Memphis a few times and reveled in the history of this amazing city.  When some new, dynamic music presents itself from the birthplace of rock ‘n’roll, as is the case here, it is all the more significant.

     

    http://listeningthroughthelens.com/




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