Texas trio Being Dead imagine an unlikely union between B-52's, Guadalancal Diary, Rank & File and Let's Active when there still felt like there was some genuine hope politically at the dawn of the early Eighties. Jimmy Carter was in The White House. An actual decent man.
Being Dead offer plenty of hope if their own despite their name. Debut album When Horses Would Run has an atrociously drawn horse who looks as if his running days are far behind him on its cover. These are sprightly, offbeat Cowpunk tunes that remind me of that great offbeat wave of American bands that greeted the dawn of the decade I came of age in, inspired equally by New Wave and Sixties Pop.
One small ramshackle anthem after another, Being Dead are hardly exploring new frontiers but know there's plenty of gold to be found littered along the old ones. Old fashioned fun.
Ah, I was going to recommend this to you, Bruce! I've been looking forward to it since hearing Last Living Buffalo a few weeks ago. You are much better at seeing references/connections with other bands than me. I do like this, though. It's bonkers, all over the place and a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's brilliant. It's just what it reminded me of. There were a lot of American bands that sounded a bit like this in the early eighties. I really liked Guadalcanal Diary.
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