Easy Listening For Jerks- Parts 1 & 2
Six Shooter, 2022
8/10
Listen to Easy Listening For Jerks- Parts 1 & 2
The prairie rockers The Dead South collect a pair of EPs here, where their outsider anthems are met with bluegrass, folk and country inspired moments as they put a very interesting spin on songs most of us have heard before.
“Keep On The Sunny Side” starts the listen with raw singing alongside soft acoustic guitar before bursting into a swift bluegrass rocker, and “Pallet On The Floor” continues the mood with plenty of finger picking acrobatics amid warm vocal harmonies.
Further along, the chunky and speedy instrumental “Flint Hill Special” emits much melody in a mountain-esque sort of way, while “Matterhorn” possesses much beauty in its sophisticated string texturing. “People Are Strange”, one of the album’s best, then puts a very charming slant on a classic track with The Dead South’s inimitable delivery.
“Saturday Night” and “96 Quite Bitter Beings” exit the listen, where the former moves with much power in the vocals against the gentle instrumentation, and the latter thumps and sways with much grit as punk and bluegrass meet in a very interesting hybrid.
A listen that’s quite fun and never short on creativity, originals by System Of A Down, Cold War Kids and Ween, among others, are put through The Dead South’s version of bluegrass punk. and it makes for a very atypical listening experience that you won’t soon forget.
Travels well with: The Devil Makes Three- The Chains Are Broken; Corb Lund- Agricultural Tragic