Former Anastasia Screamed front-guy Chick Graning bounces back from personal tragedy (a brain hemorrhage and 18-day coma) with one of the finest grunge-pop offerings since Kurt Cobain shook up the scene way back when.
While every track on Deadsexy is at least as good as the recent output of the current alterna-elite; six songs in particular stand head and shoulders above most of what's been waxed in the last few years - and are natural selections for any "Best Of" compilations being put together covering the '90s.
The Boston-based three-piece kicks their debut off with the brilliant aggro-jangle, punchy beat and infectiously in-your-face hook of "Honey Simple" - a song that features Graning's ravaged vocals, stuttering riffs and humbucking guitar colliding with an almost British Invasion, multi-harmony, male/female chorus for a wild, steering wheel-pounding, three-minute ride to the top of the Buzz Bin heap.
Other songs of special note include: "Rains Of Kansas," which blends a Son Volt-worthy guitar drone, on-the-road imagery and Silo's caliber twang with vocalist/bassist Joyce Raskin's Exene-like harmonies; the Top 10 chaos, "La, la, la" chorus and crunchy pulse of "Crimea River"; "Glamourizing Cigarettes," an angry, aggressive blast of Soul Asylum-like power-pop elevated to greatness by Graning's throaty rasp, Raskin's deceptively-sweet harmony and drummer Joe Propatier's Keith Moon-ish fluidity and unabashed abandon; the hit-bound beauty, from-the-heart lyrics and ascending vocal hook of "Days Like This"; and the Buffalo Tom-meets-Bush roar and subtle pop shadings of "Freakshadow."
Damned if this ain't essential listening.
