CD Reviews

Deadboy and the Elephantmen

We Are Night Sky | Fat Possum

By MIKAEL WOOD | July 11, 2006

3.0 Stars

DEADBOY & THE ELEPHANTMEN: Think Bishop Berkeley on Fat Possum.

If a co-ed blues-punk duo make a sound and no one hears it, will they still elicit comparisons with the White Stripes and the Fiery Furnaces? Yes. Louisiana’s Deadboy & the Elephantmen — singer/guitarist Dax Riggs and singer/drummer Tessie Brunet — are signed to Fat Possum, the Mississippi indie that’s also released records by pre-punk bluesmen like Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside (as well as, uh, the Fiery Furnaces), so they’re not coy about their music’s deep roots: you can hear references to the MC5 and the Stooges and Burnside in their stuff, particularly in the way its drony qualities increase in proportion with the volume — a neat trick that’s been worth repeating for 50 years. When Riggs really gets cooking on vocals, as on the opening “Stop, I’m Already Dead,” he sounds like deposed American Idol yowler Chris Daughtry fronting one of those Camaro-rock bands on the Dazed and Confused soundtrack — another neat trick that’s worth repeating for 50 more.

DEADBOY AND THE ELEPHANTMEN + DON CABALLERO + PEARLS & BRASS + 27 | July 14 | Middle East downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.864.EAST

On the Web
Deadboy and the Elephantmen: http://www.deadboyandtheelephantmen.com/

Related: Antic Digression Disorder, Fiery Furnaces, Stop making sense, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Education, The White Stripes, Higher Education, More

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Deadboy and the Elephantmen, "Stop, I'm Already Dead" (mp3)

Deadboy and the Elephantmen, "Evil Friend" (mp3)

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