Dead Agents, Dead Agents EP - review
Mixing the Black Country and Staffordshire into a musical melting pot should produce an amalgamation of styles, right?
That hard, industrial backbone to one mixed with the leafy, extravagant flair of the other.
Well that’s what has happened with Dead Agents, who have released their self-titled EP after combining the talents of two lads from Walsall with two from Cannock.
At times, this EP can feel a tad confused with these conflicting styles. At one point we have the screeching guitars and heavy beats of I Belong, at another the retro video game beeps of Haters, and another the uplifting, poppy chorus of Don’t Talk To Me.
It is most probably a band finding their feet and their sound. And it certainly doesn’t make this a bad EP.
The latter of those three songs sounds a little out of place. An almost pop-rock feel sees harmonies swoon over the rising and falling riff of the chorus. It is the lightest song on the record and is arguably the weakest.
But there is good fun that comes before it. These guys can write a rock melody.
I Belong has some real swagger in its fast-paced assault on the eardrums. There is also something quite Oasis about the chorus. The way the vocals unite and fall at the end of every sentence sounds a little like the Gallagher brothers themselves, had they opted for a heavier groove.
The depths are opened up in Haters. The aggression that simmers over in the scratched, extended outro to this track is great fun. Think Red Fang after they have been denied a beer for a couple of weeks. This must be a storm played live.
Drowning is a little more heartbroken with that unsettled guitar that leads from verse into the main mash of the track. And this vibe continues into Be My God. Again, those desert and stoner rock sounds of the American South edge through here. If you love your guitars, then when this song is in pounding form you will be in your element.
An interesting if cluttered start from the gang. If they can settle on something moving forward they could make some pretty hefty rock records.
Rating: 6/10
Dead Agents are supporting Liberty Lies at Birmingham’s Asylum on June 1
