Sep 29, 2009

Death - For the Whole World to See


A trio of black Detroit brothers recorded 7 songs in the early seventies of rock/soul/prog/proto-punk and then moved to Vermont and changed scenes. Thankfully now they are getting some due and are even touring again. I caught them in Chicago on Saturday for a wild set. The crowd went ballz-out crazy for the punk stuff and swayed side to side for the peace-n-love reggae shit. One soul song started with a shout-out to Marvin Gaye and the first few lines were a cover of his "God is Love." The variety was intesreting but I can say that the Death songs that were played were everyone's favorites. These old-ass men can still play the shit out of these songs.
Also interesting is that the rock influence from the original album, guitarist David, died in 2000 of lung cancer which almost assuredly ended all hopes of a live show reunion. They put a life size black and white poster of David on stage with them. Dave decked out in a white karate gi, afro, his hands on a black guitar balanced on the ground. Death playin acting as a proper memorial.
Also, also interesting is that the 7 songs they recorded so long ago are real good. While the live show had clear divisions between their post-Death soul and reggae material, the album effortlessly jumps genres and is never jarring. I can hear the "Yes" influence in the proggy "As the World Turns," and the early punk trappings of "Freakin Out."

This is the type of album that music blogs were created for.

DL

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Not sure where to post this but I wanted to ask if anyone has heard of National Clicks?

Can someone help me find it?

Overheard some co-workers talking about it all week but didn't have time to ask so I thought I would post it here to see if someone could help me out.

Seems to be getting alot of buzz right now.

Thanks