ShouldaWouldaCoulda #3 - The Dead Tricks

From the Universal Church of Bators came The Dead Tricks. These New York punks released an E.P. and two singles before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2014.

From what I can find on the web, singer James Donovan is a bonafide old-school rock n’ roll wild-man onstage, thrashing around until he bleeds and eating snot all while screaming his lungs out. 

2011’s E.P. “You Should Have Worried About It” (great title btw) was produced by Agnostic Front’s Mike Gallo. The Dead Tricks released the record themselves and pretty much nailed it. It’s kinda Undertones meet the Dead Boys but so much more than a 70’s revival band, eardrum blistering guitar solo’s with big hooks and catchy choruses. Tight and loose at the same time, if that makes any sense..

While “Worm Travesty” is delightfully weird and feral, “Don’t Get High (Without Me)” is a perfectly written and executed instant punk classic, the struggles and drags of getting high and going through withdrawal often make for great songs. “Chocha Wave” is The Vaselines on steroids, a cool snotty song that invites you to yell along with the chorus. Funny story, with me being from the Netherlands, I had to look up what chocha means, thanks for that. More walls of guitars, bassrumble, drum pounding, weirdness and outrageousness are to be found in opening tracks “Heat Burns the One-Eyed Monster” and “Go-Go the Bone Mobile”.   

Two years later the band released two more adrenaline rushes of songs. “The Despicable Summer” & “Serf” show the band had gained momentum and started writing even better songs. Donovan especially is on fire here, switching between cool and absolutely berserk like Jeckyll and Hyde with a microphone. The guitars on “The Despicable Summer” have an awesome Cheetah Chrome vibe to them, the whole band is freaking tight. This is should’ve been a breakthrough hit if anything.

This excerpt from their biography sums it up best: 

“This is a gang that obsesses over The Dead Boys, Johnny Thunders, The Dictators, as well as The Stooges, The Damned, MC5, Link Wray, The Cramps, The Gun Club, Hanoi Rocks, Dead Kennedy’s, and The Misfits, but also realizes, hey it’s 2012— best way to show you love your influences is to try to equal them in songwriting quality and musicianship. It’s called inspiration.”

I can’t believe these guys didn’t pop up on my radar sooner. Indefinite hiatus means there’s hope though, right..?

Buy their records here.

Listen on Spotify: