Every once in a while, I stumble upon the opportunity to review
\na new band. Sure, there are the easy ways like browsing through a
\nsite like MP3.com, but I just don’t have the time or patience to
\nlook through every single listing.<\/p>\n
One such accidental discovery came thanks to an auction I won on
\neBay – a four-cassette lot offered by the charmingly named Mr.
\nThermos. In one of his messages to me, he included a link to his
\nband’s site. I offered to review his band’s disc, and he
\naccepted.<\/p>\n
That band, Drawing Flies, captures the best lessons learned by
\ngroups such as Metallica, Megadeth and the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
\nand throws in more than a touch of humor. C’mon, how could one
\nresist a song that glorifies the struggles of one Wile E.
\nCoyote?<\/p>\n
Their CD
\nDead Dog Lie<\/i> has many moments of such promise, including a
\nproduction quality which is quite impressive, with very few
\ndrawbacks. In an age where metal is poised to make a commercial
\ncomeback, don’t be surprised if you see this Boston-area band near
\nthe top of the heap.<\/p>\n
Thermos handles the vocals and bass chores in Drawing Flies;
\nguitarists McCarthy and White and drummer Von Hellmut (no full
\nnames are given, though I do know Thermos’s real name) round out a
\ngroup whose sound echoes that of classic mid-’80s metal. Thermos’s
\nbass lines remind me a lot of those of Megadeth’s with their snap,
\nwhile the music itself walks the line deftly between funk (“Not
\nLike Me”) and thrash (“Cockroach”, “Running With Scissors”).<\/p>\n
As humorous as I can find a song like “Chin Music”, you know
\nthere’s going to be someone (hell-
\nooo<\/i>, Tipper Gore) who’s gonna blow a gasket at some of the
\ncommentaries. Ten words: If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it,
\nokay? ‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n
Dead Dog Lie shows the band’s true talents by remaining cutting
\nedge musically. Tracks like “Fireclown,” “(Good Mourning) Amerika”
\nand “Knucklefuck” all keep the listener on their toes – and, in a
\nsense, that’s what good metal should do.<\/p>\n
But they show their twisted sense of humor often. “a.c.m.e.” is
\nthe Wile E. Coyote song previously mentioned – and every time I
\nhear it, I can’t help but laugh my ass off. (The use of cartoon
\nsound effects is perfect, by the way.) And, if you can’t help but
\nhanker for the classics, “Clusterfuck” tries to wrap up the history
\nof hard rock\/heavy metal in under six minutes. It must be heard to
\nbe believed – and it is quite good.<\/p>\n
Did I say something about minor potholes? Really, they’re not
\nthat bad. I’d turn up the volume on Thermos’s vocals a little bit,
\nand try to enunciate a little more. But otherwise, it seems like
\nthis band is well on its way towards making a strange, little name
\nfor themselves – and I think that’s just the way they’d like it to
\nbe.<\/p>\n
\nDead Dog Lie<\/i> is an exciting hint at what is to come from
\nDrawing Flies – and could well be some of the best money I spent on
\neBay. Chances are you’ll be drawn to this disc like flies to a
\ngarbage pail – just save some room for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6167],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36335","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-drawing-flies","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36335"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36335"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}