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"The Death & Life of…" The Deadlines |
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This one'll have you dancing in your graves in no time! The Deadlines - a morbid mixture that saunters between the living and the dead and here, a timely arrival having apparently not yet reached the end of their "line" it's head pounding, stone-crunching rock and roll in the finest b-movie tradition. With a black and white layout and masterful use of the macabre, they're almost like a stylish version of The Misfits, sans makeup, and giving new meaning to dirty but well dressed, the freaky fivesome grinds 'em out with ax-like precision. The true "Grave Dancers Union" if you will-this is already going down as one of my favorite new punk guts and gross-out collections since the last AFI EP came out! Opening with the title track, the haunting begins in rather subdued form, in essence preparing the flesh for the impending onslaught that reveals itself on "Go-Go to the Graveyard," the churning "Vampires in Love" and classic death rock Bela Lugosi revisited groove of "Darlin' Darlin'." The fine lads must have caught their share of criticism during classroom roll-call in their younger days with names like "Coffin" and "Lugosi" and… of course "Jerry Attrick" which must have wowed 'em in the principal's office-and let's face it, with a character portrait like this, they must have done their share of explaining… this isn't something you just wake up one morning and decide, I'm gonna be the unrefuted leaders of necro-maniacs everywhere! Besides bizarre imagery, The Deadlines can play… but might not be suitable for your next outdoor party-my guess is they bring gray clouds and rain with them wherever they go… but one never knows. We're mainly hit with
multi-midtempo guitar/organ based tracking mostly in the middle All throughout, even
considering a lot of the material has similar qualities from one to the
next, you just can't help tapping your foot, nodding your head, leaping
off your chair and Imagine fifties' sock hop meets the groovy ghoulies in a sociopathic black and white thriller… a creepy and cold nocturnal nightmare where once the gates slowly close, there is no return… Released by Tooth & Nail Records Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] P.O. Box 20252
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