Condition: New
Deadhorse - Deadhorse
Saved by Vinyl
Calgary, AB
LP
New
2011
The Songs
1.Interstellar Remedies
2.Glam Central
3.Cushion
4.Big Blew Sky
5.Paraboots
6.I'm a Lawyer
7.Upon a Mountain High
8.Haze Blues
Tape whispers and humming tubes spew howling guitars on Deadhorse's self titled debut record. While comparisons to early British metal can be made, this recording evokes the claustrophobia of a Calgary winter, dreaming of a sunny 60's Topanga canyon.
Founding Deadhorse members Danny Vescarelli (guitar, vocals), Jennifer Crighton (vocals, harmonica), Eddie Dalrymple (guitar, vocals), Marie Sulkowski (organ, vocals), and their original rhythm section gathered in January 2010, enlisting analog wizard Jay Crocker to produce. Over the next two weeks, sustained by streams of espresso, Lucky Lager, hashish, and BBQ'd wild game, the group tracked live off the floor, before adding additional vocals and mixing in Crocker's Sea Legs recording shack.
From the jangly opener 'Interstellar Remedies' through 'Glam Central' and 'I'm a Lawyer', the band rides high on the swagger and groove of early 70's Neil Young and the drugged-out bombast of more modern psychedelia. Following the blistering rock of 'Upon a Mountain High', the album draws to a close; the tracks recede, and Deadhorse's final drones are left echoing down a tunnel, destination unknown
Wedged in the purgatory between stations on the AM dial, Deadhorse’s ghostly Canadiana inhabits the interstitial gaps between smokehouses and smoke lodges. Celestine space waltzes (“Interstellar Remedies”) spike the punch of pissed-up blues stompers (“Glam Central” and the Jello Bia-fried “Big Blew Sky”), while “I’m a Lawyer” jitters like “Baba O’Riley”, were it an incantation to the open skies. Throughout, co-vocalists Jen Crighton and Danny Vescarelli weave Rigellian tapestries in pentatonic reverence that, somehow, avoids Crazy Horse
Pentecostalism. Call it a collision of Calgary past and present, but this much is clear: Deadhorse understands that roots are meant to grow.
From an opening salvo of echoed psychedelia through to glammy garage stompers, Neil Youngian ditch rock and spooky roots music of all stripes, the debut album from Calgary’s Deadhorse proves this troupe is no one-trick pony. Formed from the ashes of orchestral-folk collective The Consonant C, the last few years found the band of outsiders clip-clopping along until local label Saved by Vinyl leapt on board to release its gloriously raw self-titled LP.
"Forming this band had a bit to do with my desire to play music that felt more natural – to myself at least," explains frontman and founding member Danny Vescarelli. "You know how it usually goes with bands – you can sense a tide of change coming. By the time we started to question the future of The Consonant C, I had already started writing material, geeking out at the record store and telling our drummer he should listen to Nuggets."
With hands-on help from Calgary luminary Jay Crocker, the eight songs of Deadhorse were tracked straight to a vintage reel-to-reel, utilizing an all-analogue process perfectly befitting the band’s timeless tunes. For two weeks, Crocker set up shop in the home of Vescarelli and his musical/romantic partner Jennifer Crighton. The tape machine and mixing board were installed in the basement, while the band set up shop in the living room for a series of ragged live takes. Finally, minimal overdubs were completed in Crocker’s Sea Legs recording shack, and, in the case of standout rocker Glam Central, in a bathtub.
Deadhorse - Upon a Mountain High
deadhorse opens for free pizza on Rock N Roll Pizza Night at Broken City
Deadhorse - I'm a Lawyer
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