New Tunes-Dead To Me

Based out of San Francisco, this Fat Wreck Chords group is the phoenix that rose from the ashes of One Man Army. A quartet consisting of Jack and Brandon (from OMA) and a set of cousins, Chicken and Ian, this new union has come together to create a distinct and original punk sound.

Musically, Dead to Me is fast paced and hard driving and their newest release, Cuban Ballerina, jumps you like a NYC mugger from the very first track. The group manages to lace in the fast, pumping bass lines and drum beats with a chant-acious double vocal scenario on the mic.

The raspy vocals are a perfect fit for their lyrics as they intermingle with the passion and anger of living, dying, feeling like dying and addiction. In songs like “Something New” the entire composition comes together in a speaker blowing fashion. Turn it up, and let it ride. Guitar solos take you on the trip, ripping chords and racing lyrics hit straight on. This song immediately stood out from the first rotation on the disc. The staccato style brings out the morbid, angst lyrics as they take you on a ride through, what quickly shows itself as a dark and twisted story of life.

Lyrics from “Something New”-

“There’s something new in my way
I thought about him all that day
Sitting at home and dying alone
Then again, who am I to say?
We both know I’ve been down that same road
I know it gets lonely when that phone rings
It’s the last thing you wanna hear”

Listen to it here!

This first verse is clean and cuts into your head as you wait to know what exactly is happening in the fog of the guitar, drums and lyrics. Listening carefully you can uncover the misanthropic tendencies that are woven through this entire song. This quirky juxtaposition, hammered home the strangled marriage between the scratched out vocals, the domestically disturbed lyrics.

The Cuban Ballerina album seems to be punctuated by Chicken’s recent stint in drug rehab, as the lyrics have an edge of the void feeling to them. Kind of like your toes are on the edge of the cliff, waiting, wanting to test your limits, fly if just for a second, but then you just turn around and forget the ideas that were once in your mixed up mind.

The final track, “Visiting Day” epitomizes that feeling with this into…

“I woke up shaking in a room that I
Shared with three strangers
And it was visiting day”

Listen to it here!

After many rotations, Dead To Me’s Cuban Ballerina takes on even more dimensions by dishing out new sounds, interesting words and delivering an album that sounds unique in an age where much of what is created is often less than original.

Dead To Me’s Stats:

Members:

Chicken- Vocals and Bass

Jack- Guitar and Vocals

Brandon- Guitar and carpentry

Ian- Drums

Website: Click Here!

Label: Fat Wreck Chords

Buy the album here!

Listen to the album here!