Imagine the sound you'd get if Tim Burton's composer Danny Elfman drafted songs for seminal punk band The Ramones to play at beach parties. Tooth & Nail offers a musical concoction in this vein with The Death and Life of..., the first release from Oregon's The Deadlines. The band dubs their blend "horror punk," and does a pretty good job of keeping the listener's attention with it, at least for a little while.
Two things set The Deadlines apart from the God-knows-how-many other punk bands currently on the market. The first is their complete obsession with campy horror films. Chief lyricist "Shaun Coffin" (who strongly resembles an undead version of All Star United frontman Ian Eskelin) writes songs with titles like "Go-Go to the Graveyard" and "Last Nail in Your Coffin." Unfortunately, what starts the album as a pleasant novelty turns formulaic toward the end, and Coffin's lyrics, while they sound okay when combined with the music, are incredibly cheesy when separated:
It was a horrible night
It was a horrible sight
It was a horrible fright
The day I realized I had died
(From "Horrible Night")
The other factor that makes The Deadlines different from their peers is the addition of a Farfisa organ on many of the tracks. This gives the album a very surf-flavoured sound (which doesn't, by the way, always fit so well with the horror movie theme of the lyrics). The surf influence is most evident on "Dead Indeed," while "Go-Go to the Graveyard" uses the organ, in a manner more suited to the rest of the song. Also included is "The Dark Night of the Soul," an organ instrumental penned by St. John of the Cross.
In the end, The Death and Life of... falls flat for the same reason that many novelty albums do: the schtick wears very thin with repeated listenings. However, it'll be fun to pull it out every now and then, especially around Halloween.
3 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestHere's a spooky punkband from the Tooth & Nail roster. Imagine the band dressed in black suits with ties playing songs like Go-Go To The Graveyard, Vampires In Love and Last Nail In Your Coffin. Their singer is Shaun Coffin....And the music....Creepy! This is definitely an original band from Tooth & Nail again. Their punk rock sound is basically a mix-up of good old garage punk and rock & roll.…Opus 2000Reviewed by Nolan ShigleyWhen I read the bio of The Deadlines on the Cornerstone web site, they seemed like just another in the endless line of punk bands ready to stake their claim at the festival. Garage punk was the best description given by the bio, which really didn't trip my trigger. Luckily, I overheard a conversation about the band where I heard three words that rung in my ears like church bells: "Blood Spitting…Similar sounding releases
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