July 17, 2007
Motor City Moxie
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Detroit's Deadstring Brothers rise above the city's storied musical past and make music on their own terms
Starting a band in Detroit is somewhat akin to opening a soft pretzel joint in South Philly. The pressures associated with strong tradition and civic pride are enough to crush the life out of the project before it even gets off the ground. The Deadstring Brothers flip a brazen bird in the face of the Motor City's musical legacy, opting to ignore D-Town's storied past, riddled with dirty garage bands and heroes of the fabled Motown Sound, instead crafting tunes oozing with the twangy Americana and gritty blues more closely associated with bands hailing from Texas and Georgia.
The result of the Deadstrings' brash refusal to conform to a regional musical dialect kinda makes them the Auntie Anne's of the Detroit scene. While they've made a conscious decision to eschew the tried and true practices of local contemporaries, they manage to turn out a product that, while completely antithetical to the expected, is pretty damn good nonetheless.
Musical pigeonholing aside, the Deadstrings do share one trait with their local brethren the White Stripes and Detroit Cobras: they bring the house down with their live performances. Don't let the fact that the Deadstrings are slated as the first opener Sunday night fool you - they come to play and may very well blow the rest of the bands off the North Star stage.
Starving Winter Report, the Deadstring Brothers' 2006 debut recording on the legendary Bloodshot Records label, is one of those rare albums that bursts with songs that sound so familiar after one listen that you're almost convinced it's a collection of semi-obscure covers. Additionally, the fact that no single song stands out on the album speaks to the almost frightening level of consistency the Deadstrings achieve with seeming grace and ease.
Even a cursory listen leaves a strong impression that the Deadstrings have rocked out to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street more than a few times and the Gram Parsons references are tangibly evident. Although seeing any band cover a Leon Carney Russell song seems like a stretch in these post-millennial times, when the Deadstrings did just that to encore after their rollicking Khyber gig back in May it was as if everything in the universe was in its right place, if just for three-and-a-half minutes.
Anyone familiar with the Outlaws movement sparked by the band of the same name in the early '70s is well aware of how Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson managed to double-handedly seize control of Nashville's iron-fisted clamp on the country and western sound and effectively transfer the genre's balance of power to Austin, Texas. While it's hard to imagine the Deadstrings accomplishing a similar feat by usurping Wilco's stranglehold on the alt-country scene and giving Detroit Rock City one more feather in its cap, Wilco's recent migration to more dad rock and less twang rock certainly leaves them a bit vulnerable these days. Ryan Adams may have something to say about the Deadstrings rolling on to turf he considers rightfully his but then again, the remaining members of the Jerry Garcia Band may have a thing or two to say to Mr. Adams after hearing his newest crib-snatcher, Easy Tiger.
Nonetheless, the Deadstrings are certainly on to something here. Although it may be easy (and lazy journalism) to lump them in with the rest of the pretenders on the alt-country bandwagon, the Deadstrings elicit deeper investigation before reverting to such grand generalizations. Their sound is decidedly heavier than Wilco's and their lyrics are more deeply entrenched in the traditional mores of old-school country rock. They sing about important things like gettin' drunk and kickin' ass. On top of it all, they stand by their words and live them out on stage. The Deadstrings clearly love to play for an audience and they don't shy away from letting everyone out there know how much fun they have while doing it.
Sunday's show should prove interesting from several vantage points. For one, the Deadstrings are opening for Scissors for Lefty. While an excellent band, Scissors for Lefty are more akin to Franz Ferdinand and the Killers than the Stones . Additionally, Sunday night shows are historically crap shoots. If everybody managed to spend their weekend properly, they're unlikely to have the energy to trudge out to the Art Museum area for the concert equivalent of a Shoney's smorgasbord. That said, dear readers, I strongly advise you to kick back and take it easy this weekend. Spend Saturday night in. Cook a nice dinner for your significant other. Watch Saturday Night Live. You know its been so long since you've seen an episode that it may actually be good again. Don't necessarily count on that one working out, though. Just sayin'.
The point is simply this: the Deadstring Brothers may well be the best thing to happen to Detroit music since the White Stripes. Don't deny them a chance to stake their claim in Philly as the best damn bar band you may ever see. The Outlaws they ain't ... yet. They may, however, be the second coming of the Rolling Stones and that's not a terrible thing. Not by a long shot.
Deadstring Brothers
With Scissors for Lefty
and Hedrons
When: Sun., July 22, 8pm. $8
Where: North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St.
Info: 215-787-0488
northstarrocks.com
The result of the Deadstrings' brash refusal to conform to a regional musical dialect kinda makes them the Auntie Anne's of the Detroit scene. While they've made a conscious decision to eschew the tried and true practices of local contemporaries, they manage to turn out a product that, while completely antithetical to the expected, is pretty damn good nonetheless.
Musical pigeonholing aside, the Deadstrings do share one trait with their local brethren the White Stripes and Detroit Cobras: they bring the house down with their live performances. Don't let the fact that the Deadstrings are slated as the first opener Sunday night fool you - they come to play and may very well blow the rest of the bands off the North Star stage.
Starving Winter Report, the Deadstring Brothers' 2006 debut recording on the legendary Bloodshot Records label, is one of those rare albums that bursts with songs that sound so familiar after one listen that you're almost convinced it's a collection of semi-obscure covers. Additionally, the fact that no single song stands out on the album speaks to the almost frightening level of consistency the Deadstrings achieve with seeming grace and ease.
Even a cursory listen leaves a strong impression that the Deadstrings have rocked out to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street more than a few times and the Gram Parsons references are tangibly evident. Although seeing any band cover a Leon Carney Russell song seems like a stretch in these post-millennial times, when the Deadstrings did just that to encore after their rollicking Khyber gig back in May it was as if everything in the universe was in its right place, if just for three-and-a-half minutes.
Anyone familiar with the Outlaws movement sparked by the band of the same name in the early '70s is well aware of how Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson managed to double-handedly seize control of Nashville's iron-fisted clamp on the country and western sound and effectively transfer the genre's balance of power to Austin, Texas. While it's hard to imagine the Deadstrings accomplishing a similar feat by usurping Wilco's stranglehold on the alt-country scene and giving Detroit Rock City one more feather in its cap, Wilco's recent migration to more dad rock and less twang rock certainly leaves them a bit vulnerable these days. Ryan Adams may have something to say about the Deadstrings rolling on to turf he considers rightfully his but then again, the remaining members of the Jerry Garcia Band may have a thing or two to say to Mr. Adams after hearing his newest crib-snatcher, Easy Tiger.
Nonetheless, the Deadstrings are certainly on to something here. Although it may be easy (and lazy journalism) to lump them in with the rest of the pretenders on the alt-country bandwagon, the Deadstrings elicit deeper investigation before reverting to such grand generalizations. Their sound is decidedly heavier than Wilco's and their lyrics are more deeply entrenched in the traditional mores of old-school country rock. They sing about important things like gettin' drunk and kickin' ass. On top of it all, they stand by their words and live them out on stage. The Deadstrings clearly love to play for an audience and they don't shy away from letting everyone out there know how much fun they have while doing it.
Sunday's show should prove interesting from several vantage points. For one, the Deadstrings are opening for Scissors for Lefty. While an excellent band, Scissors for Lefty are more akin to Franz Ferdinand and the Killers than the Stones . Additionally, Sunday night shows are historically crap shoots. If everybody managed to spend their weekend properly, they're unlikely to have the energy to trudge out to the Art Museum area for the concert equivalent of a Shoney's smorgasbord. That said, dear readers, I strongly advise you to kick back and take it easy this weekend. Spend Saturday night in. Cook a nice dinner for your significant other. Watch Saturday Night Live. You know its been so long since you've seen an episode that it may actually be good again. Don't necessarily count on that one working out, though. Just sayin'.
The point is simply this: the Deadstring Brothers may well be the best thing to happen to Detroit music since the White Stripes. Don't deny them a chance to stake their claim in Philly as the best damn bar band you may ever see. The Outlaws they ain't ... yet. They may, however, be the second coming of the Rolling Stones and that's not a terrible thing. Not by a long shot.
Deadstring Brothers
With Scissors for Lefty
and Hedrons
When: Sun., July 22, 8pm. $8
Where: North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St.
Info: 215-787-0488
northstarrocks.com
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