"hit the ground / dance around / play the chords / reinforce / stick it to the heat..."
The massive scorched earth fuzz laden heaviness opening of "Firefighters" by Austin Texas based Being Dead is like OSEES possessed by Black Sabbath and 1400 car crash videos (or something like that) but that isn't the crazy fun part. It is the way "Firefighters" shape shifts tonally, genre wise almost constantly from alt rock, to sort of new wave power pop collisions, to emo and twee and back around again. Within minutes I flashed on such a diverse amalgam of artists from OSEES, to Gang of Four, to Dedh, to Breeders, to Sparks, to Tiger Trap, to Metz, to Pylon and that is, mi 'musicos' exhilirating, no... fucking delightful.
"Firefighters" is the first single off of Being Dead's new album "EELS" out 9/27 on Bayonet Records.
Here are some informative LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[Being Dead knows how to make an entrance – within the first several seconds of EELS, the duo’s new record, the bright, hard-strummed guitar line on “Godzilla Rises” conjures cinematic immediacy, a creature emerging from the depths of the ocean in campy, freaky stop motion, fittingly so. Being Dead’s records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song its own self-contained little universe. And while the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead’s psyche, it is, most importantly, in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil’ house in the heart of Austin, Texas.]
Yeah, I am totally blown away. Go here to stream / pre-order EELS https://bayonet.nyc/firefighters
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://beingdead.bandcamp.com/album/eels
https://www.instagram.com/being__dead/
https://www.facebook.com/beingdeadforever
Being Dead came upon the scene in Austin, TX five years ago with their distinctly right-brain songcraft, mischievous humor, and implausibly great vocal harmonies. Even as they’ve graduated from curiosity to cult favorites, I’ve yet to encounter a single person who dislikes Being Dead. The garagey psychedelic outsider pop band should be considered in the same category as rainbows and finding $60 in the pocket of a winter coat: incontrovertibly lovable.
When Horses Would Run, recorded at Radio Milk with producer/engineer Jim Vollentine (White Denim, …Trail of Dead, Spoon), spit-shines Being Dead’s sound without diminishing their weirdo-best-friend vibes. Their penchant for idiosyncratic lyricism and musical unpredictability shines in “Last Living Buffalo,” which finds Gumball and Falcon Bitch trading lines over a bouncy bop before skidding into a heavy doom breakdown. It stands in stark contrast to the gentle Laurel Canyon-style folk rock of “Daydream,” showcasing Being Dead’s extraordinary harmonies – at once plaintive, uplifting, and eerie. Their vocal interplay, however, can be just as good in contrast, like on “Muriel’s Big Day Off,” where Gumball’s garage punk monotone delivery and Falcon Bitch’s tuneful tenor volley back and forth in what sounds like the theme song for some Adult Swim cartoon. Being Dead is recommended if you like Devo, the Pixies, the Beets, Violent Femmes, or living your life like it’s an ungraded art project.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://beingdead.bandcamp.com/album/eels
https://www.instagram.com/being__dead/
https://www.facebook.com/beingdeadforever
Being Dead came upon the scene in Austin, TX five years ago with their distinctly right-brain songcraft, mischievous humor, and implausibly great vocal harmonies. Even as they’ve graduated from curiosity to cult favorites, I’ve yet to encounter a single person who dislikes Being Dead. The garagey psychedelic outsider pop band should be considered in the same category as rainbows and finding $60 in the pocket of a winter coat: incontrovertibly lovable.
When Horses Would Run, recorded at Radio Milk with producer/engineer Jim Vollentine (White Denim, …Trail of Dead, Spoon), spit-shines Being Dead’s sound without diminishing their weirdo-best-friend vibes. Their penchant for idiosyncratic lyricism and musical unpredictability shines in “Last Living Buffalo,” which finds Gumball and Falcon Bitch trading lines over a bouncy bop before skidding into a heavy doom breakdown. It stands in stark contrast to the gentle Laurel Canyon-style folk rock of “Daydream,” showcasing Being Dead’s extraordinary harmonies – at once plaintive, uplifting, and eerie. Their vocal interplay, however, can be just as good in contrast, like on “Muriel’s Big Day Off,” where Gumball’s garage punk monotone delivery and Falcon Bitch’s tuneful tenor volley back and forth in what sounds like the theme song for some Adult Swim cartoon. Being Dead is recommended if you like Devo, the Pixies, the Beets, Violent Femmes, or living your life like it’s an ungraded art project.
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