Dead Scene Radio – Self-Titled

I’ve been sitting on this review of Dead Scene Radio’s debut self-titled EP for a little over a week now.  Not because I don’t know where I stand – I’ll be blunt, this is a great debut – but because I just can’t boil their sound down to a quick description without doing great injustice to the band.  On the one hand, Dead Scene Radio really doesn’t offer anything terribly new or original – they’re a fairly standard punk informed folk/country act emerging at the same time as legions of copycats.  But on the other hand, they have no problem overcoming the sum of their parts and defying easy description.

My best attempt references several bands that, on their own, sound nothing like Dead Scene Radio.  For starters, lead vocalist Jake Simmons sounds like a combination of Nothington’s Jay Nothington’s coarse qualities and MxPx’s Mike Herrera’s higher, crisper delivery.  Furthermore, he has a tight lyrical delivery easily comparable to little known acoustic folk wonder PJ Bond.  Confused yet?  Good, I’ll continue.

Dead Scene Radio has a delivery that draws on everything from rock to punk to soul.  Tracks like “Don’t You Know” blend genre boundaries with such ease that the result just glides from the speakers.  Some like “White Flag” up the tempo, complexity, and draw upon Bad Religion-like “woahs,” giving the tracks a really “big” feel.  On the other side of the spectrum are those like personal favourite “Fuck The Times” which opens with a folky minimalist acoustic overtone, and maintains it even when heavier guitars pick up guiding duties and transform the track into a catchy anthem.

Despite my jumbled description and references, the members of Dead Scene Radio couldn’t be more in tune with each other.  Each track feels complete and fully realized.  Surveying the spectrum, those drawing on folk and country are full of life, while those drawing on punk feel comparably frantic.  Consequently, Dead Scene Radio’s debut feels refreshingly expansive for its light five-song makeup.

Dead Scene Radio has a very wide potential for appeal.  From indie goers to punkers, to soulful rockers, there’s a little something here for everyone.  And to top it off the band does it all on a tiny little independent record label based out of Michigan.  If this is the caliber of the band’s first attempt, then I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this fresh upstart.