The Deadlians – Watch out here come the Deadlians
[Independent]
In Dublin, traditional and folk music has been enjoying a renaissance. Artists such as Lankum, John Francis Flynn, and Junior Brother have breathed new life into the style, bringing it into a new age by merging electronic elements, prog-like meandering melodies and implementing distortion across the instrumentation. Dublin-based underground outfit The Deadlians have been an integral force in this fertile scene cultivating the neo-trad movement.
Throughout their aptly named debut offering, Watch out here come The Deadlians, the audience are warned of the brilliantly unbridled breadth of their songs.
One of the most immediately captivating components to The Deadlians’ musicianship is the mesmerising combination of punk and psych rock sensibilities steering beast-like tracks like Scumbag with an Ice Pop, and A Few Cans of Minerals. Those moments conjure the sweaty clubs of 1970s New York.
Bringing us back to a more familiar soundscape, and complementing those denser moments, Your Aul One and The Ultimate Gurrier hears frontman Seán Fitzgeralds’ violin add contrasting textures across infectious hooks. Elsewhere, Mortal Son, an immediate highlight, is infused with an irresistible Tuareg inflection across the instrumentation before evolving into a densely textured arrangement that feels like a descendant to Velvet Underground’s Heroin.
Along with the wildly energetic musicality, Fitzgerald’s presence as storyteller across the LP is equally captivating and entertaining. The overall nocturnal nature of the arrangements, and the way in which Fitzgerald introduces us to the many individuals dwelling within the eight songs, demands (and warrants) your attention as there’s a seamless flow achieved across the work.
Words: Zara Hedderman
