Dead Child – Attack / Witch – Paralyzed

Welcome friends, to another new genre....yes indeed, after Tape-Loop, Gameboy Core, Dub Step and Crisp Packet Shuffle I introduce to you...The New Wave of Kentucky Heavy Metal! A supergroup of sorts, Dead Child features Dave Pajo (whose numerous projects have included Slint, Papa M, Ariel M, Zwan and The For Carnation), Todd Cook of The Shipping News and the reformed Slint, Michael McMahan (brother of Slint’s Brian) of The For Carnation, Tony Bailey (Lords) and Dahm of Phantom Family Halo on vocals. After the Slint reunion tour in 2005, it seems Pajo and co began to develop a longing for the old days, the music that had informed them as they were growing up in Louisville in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Listening to Attack you can imagine the five of them, hanging out in a family members garage, drinking beers and rocking out against the world, seeing who could design the best logo to paint on the drum skin to impress everybody at the next battle of the bands. This record harks back to a time when rock dinosaurs ruled the earth, and the kids prayed to the true gods of Maiden and Priest, Sabbath and Zepplin. With titles like 'Wasp Riot', 'Black Halo Rider', 'Rattlesnake Chalice' and 'Screaming Skull' this record sounds pretty much as you would expect it to, replete with references to goblin’s, magic and surviving Holy Terror.Fans of Slint, or any number of Pajo’s other projects, are in for a shock with this record, as other than the arpeggiating eye of the storm 'Armies Up Ahead', which seems pleasant enough, this is a sludgey riff heavy tribute to the days of ‘double-denim’ and cut off jean jackets. Palm muted riffs, tub-thumping drums, key changes and soaring, harmonic-ridden guitar solo’s positively screech out of the speakers. Vocalist Dahm seems to spend the majority of the album being a cross between S.O.A.D’s and Serj Tankian, Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Pajo has insisted that Dead Child are not an ironic metal band, and talked about wanting to establish them more as a live prospect than a ‘records’ band. However, in the times of Tenacious D it is difficult to take seriously - perhaps it is easier to see them as the Metal counterpart to Les Savy Fav.It is possible that the guys in the band miss those sweaty, beer drenched days of their youth. Although the riffs here are undoubtedly hard, and the drums canter through, why you would choose to listen to this rather than what they are trying to copy is a question that is hard to answer. And it isn’t just the old bands who they fall short of; the likes of Witchcraft and Mastadon are producing much better records.Another band paying homage to their heavy rock history is Witch, which sees Dinosaur Jr main man J Mascis revisiting his time, as drummer in early 80’s hardcore band, Deep Wound. He's joined by long time friend Dave Sweetapple, and members of avant folk outfit Feathers. While undoubtedly in thrall to the same influences as Pajo’s Dead Child, Witch manage to combine their influences into more than mere tribute, adding their own bite. Sure, the love of Zepplin, the bad attitude and the guitar squall are still there, and Mascis attacks the drums like a man possessed, propelling the songs forward at a speed and intensity that is refreshing to see. Although Mascis sticks solely to pounding his drumskins, there is no shortage of guitar histrionics on Paralyzed, the wah wah drenched fret wankery of 'Space God’ being a case in point, as is the sneery power pop of ‘1000mph’ (the solo here doing exactly what the title promises).However, Witch prove that they can also do slow and brooding, with the slow, stoner ‘Sweet Sue’ and the lolloping beats of album closer ‘Old Trap Line’. This ability to provide light and dark, and bring something more to the songs is what makes Paralyzed more enjoyable as a record than Attack. Mascis and his band manage to fuse all their interests, bringing a punky edge and a looseness to the music, and never falls in to the trap of becoming monotonous. Although by no means a giant of its type, Paralyzed in an enjoyable way to spend 37 minutes, and most importantly, it sounds as if the band had a great time doing it. I certainly know whose garage I would want to hang out in. Dead Child - Attack 64% Witch - Paralyzed 74%mp3:> Dead Child: 'Sweet Chariot'Links Dead Child [official site] [myspace] Witch [official site] [myspace]