Folksy Strings

Going away from mainstream genres, I continue my musical exploration into the meadows of bluegrass. A cello, a banjo, a couple of guitars and rugged vocals is all it took for The Dead South to create some good folk music.



Their 2016 album, Illusion and Doubt was a novel experience for me; I am not particularly fond of folk, but I&D caught my attention. Every Man Needs A Chew experiments with violin strings - the riff was really unique. Dead Man's Isle is just the song for a getaway, so is Delirium, my favourite track  which is rather soothing unlike it's name. It is a rather deceptive song that reminds me of movie soundtrack worthy for cinematographic travel scenes. They show their talent with amazing banjo and cello playing in the bridge of One Armed Man.

The songs centre around drinking, bars, getting away, unsuccessful love but on the whole it gets repetitive. It seems there's only so much you can do with these instruments and it had me quite bored and annoyed after a few tracks. The album gets exhausting toward the end, I began to see how many songs were left. Hard Day would have been a suitable concluding track to the album.

I also listened to an earlier album, Good Company. Long Gone and Achilles make a rather mediocre start to the album but the music only gets better from here. Recap, Honey You and Travellin' Man are definitely highlights of the album. Recap has got some clever banjo work and drums too adding to the beat that is lacking in this acoustic quartet. By far their best work ever,the marvellous In Hell I'll Be In Good Company features in this album. It was such a wonderful surprise to hear the cello guy sing! The banjo and cello is outstanding, creating a fabulous track that stays with you. The Dead South is a powerful and energetic self-defining ballad while Manly Way is the traditional formulaic country folk you'd expect from a bluegrass band such as this.

Good Company bears strong semblance to Mumford and Sons with respect to their style. At 14 tracks, the album is quite long but it's definitely diverse and a lot more vibrant than Illusion and Doubt. However, the music does not enthrall you particularly, it is good for listening on walks, drives and the like. The songs sure have their moments, although fleeting.