Dead by Dawn

Acoustic nerdboy gothic with a distinct carnival-ride vibe (think minor-key organs) blended with Violent Femmes-style vocals. Most borderline horror-billy stuff is way too dense for my liking. This one's light and airy enough to pull if off. Plugging in the right harmonies at the right times doesn't hurt either. Plus it's only 23 minutes long -- any more would have been overkill, and I mean that in every sense of the word.

Highlights: The campy "When I Think About You" (I wanna go to Mexico); the kooky "American Psycho" (which veers dangerously close to Weird Al territory), and the Bright Eyes-styled closer "Don't Go in the Woods," which is almost a serious rock song... almost.

There is a weird, hidden moralism to some of the haunted house-flavored lyrics that dwell on such timely topics as death and murder, but in a style that's more reminiscent of The Addams Family than Pedro the Lion. This former Christian band (they used to be Tooth & Nail act Calibretto 13) wants you to think they traded in their halos for horns. Think again.

back to   Posted Sept. 3, 2003. Copyright © 2003 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.