Never Erased is indicative of the new approach we took when recording Fade In/Fade Out. While recording our last record Out of Earshot Hawks and I would always record two versions of our guitar parts so that we could pan each one to its own speaker meaning no matter which speaker you were listening to you could hear all the guitar parts and harmonies. Our vocals could then be built from the center, coming straight at you and harmonies could be layered around the driving melody of each line. The result was a full-sounding record.
The recording of Never Erased (download here) was much different. When writing the song Hawks and I worked on creating counter-melodies with our guitars that would work off of each other. During the chorus of Never Erased you can hear me playing the rhythm part in your left ear and Cameron’s response, in a higher tone, coming from your right ear. Each of us having our own speaker –or our own ear for you headphoners– accentuated the call-and-response of the guitar parts. The vocal line screams at you from both speakers coming straight from the middle. The vocal line too is a call immediately followed by the response of two lead guitar parts mimicing the vocal melody in harmony.
In order to make-up for any loss of the full sound we had achieved with previous recordings, Eric’s drums have more presence and a warm saturated room sound. Colby, who loves to track last, strings together his own melodies that then fill-in any spaces left open in the array of sound.
It all adds up to a sound more reminiscent of our live show. Simpler maybe. But then again, don’t tell that to our producer Chris Cosgrove. He would tell you anything but.
I wrote “Sing it Soft” for my mom, right before she lost an ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer in July of 2010. After a four year struggle of our own to finish our second album – which included a third of it being erased by a click-happy studio intern – The Dead Girls had finally released Out of Earshot the previous April. Never in my life have I experienced such highs and lows…and it all happened in a span of four months. Continue reading →
As JoJo posted recently, we’re really close to finishing our new full-length record Fade In/Fade Out. But today, you can get a cool sneak preview of four songs from the album over at Daytrotter! We recorded a live 5-track session in June and the whole thing is up now!
Welcome to Daytrotter
The Beast Inside
Never Erased
Girl In Fatigues
Naysayer
Chasing Clouds
From Sean Moeller, head Daytrotter dude and all-around nice guy: “The characters in these songs are handfuls, causing all kinds of drama, losing their shit and just generally freaking out. It doesn’t mean that any of this was a bad idea though. You can tell that these are people who might actually thrive on the unpredictability of good looking babes. Hawk sings, “Whatever it takes, I’ll find a way/To get you to show me the shape of your body/It seems it’s all I ever think about these days,” and it could be the root of the problem, but it’s not like it matters all that much. It’s always gonna be hard, ya know? As long as you can spin the troubles of the odd couple into some shredding rock songs, it’s all good.”
We hope you dig the four new tunes and our full-band electric version of “Chasing Clouds” from the Te Quiero EP!
Chris Cosgrove, the highly talented local producer, is currently in the stage of doing the preliminary mixes of Fade In/Fade Out, the Dead Girls’ 6th release and 3rd full-length album. The whole band is extremely excited to release the new material, including many songs never heard before live. Don’t expect to hear the same ol’ Dead Girls album you have become accustomed to. There are some definite chances being taken on this record and we think you, as the listener, will approve of the changes.
Click on continue reading to hear about the process of recording Fade In/Fade Out.
I really can’t stress just how excited The Dead Girls are to be a part of MidCoast Takeover this year. This showcase has become the premiere non-official SXSW event for Midwest bands, so tight that even a score of national bands clamor to be added each year. I’m not totally sure how this year’s lineup stacks up to those of past years, but 2012’s collection of KC area and national bands would be enough to make me want to hitchhike down to Austin if my band wasn’t already playing.
Twenty-six KC bands have been chosen to represent this year, and while that is quite a lot, I have no doubt in my mind they are all great choices. I haven’t heard them all, but I look forward to finally hearing some bands that people have been buzzing on for awhile, like We Are Voices, The Empty Spaces, Maps for Travelers, and so many more. For the sake of getting down to the nitty gritty of just how awesome this MCT lineup is, though, I’m going to do a breakdown of some of the bands I have already come to know and love, and the bands with whom I am most excited about causing a good old-fashioned Austin ruckus. Continue reading →
We are playing the Bloody Valentine Ball on Tuesday February 14th at Record Bar in Westport!
This shindig will get started at 9pm on Valentines Day with a screening of Season 2 of the zombie web series Dead Wait, followed by performances by The Dead Girls and Last Night’s Regret. There will be contests, door prizes, dancing, and more–zombie attire encouraged by not required!
Doors open at 9pm, Screening starts at 9:30p, Rock begins at 10p
Tickets $5 in advance on the Record Bar website (www.therecordbar.com), $7 at the door and all proceeds go toward making a Dead Wait feature film!!
This Friday, January 27th, you will not want to miss this show! The Dead Girls will be opening up for the Lemonheads at the Granada in good ol’ Larryville, KS. Already excited? Well, get this, the Lemonheads will be performing, in entirety, their best full-length album “It’s A Shame About Ray”. YES!!! Get your tix right away through the Granada link above and make it out for this power-poptacular strawberry bacon jam. If you don’t already know about the Lemonheads, check them out! You won’t regret it! You can youtube the hell out of ‘em or just check out this badass interview with Dando, the lead singer, in the Pitch.
You've been Dando'd!
Some of you might be wondering, “Hey haven’t you played with these dudes before?” You would be correct, wise man…but not with this record and not with this band. In fact, the last time the Dead Girls played with Evan Dando, we were the Lemonheads. In the most improptu clusterf#ck fashion, Evan spastically agreed to a few songs, we learned them in the living room of our friend’s house, and played them that night at the Starlight. It was amazing, and amazingly awkward with Dando’s incessant nervous ticks and bizarro behavior. He borrowed my axe, strummed a few ditties and then disappeared in the shadows. Last thing I remember is waking up with a silver bullet hangover and a missing guitar tuner…
If there is one person I can say I have loved, hated, been obsessed with, been completely frustrated with, wished I had never heard of or wished I could be all at the same time, that person would be Robert Pollard. My feelings about the aged Guided By Voices songwriting captain (or Fading Captain, as he has come to be known) have undergone more of a rigorous emotional rollercoaster than any I have had about any songwriter – maybe even any girl. Yes, I am that gay for GBV.
Seriously, though – what other reaction is to be expected from such an inconsistent catalog of music? Those initial GBV albums that changed my life forever – starting with Bee Thousand through Under the Bushes, Under the Stars – set such a high bar for rock music back in the mid-nineties, even with all their garage-y, lo-fi anomalies. Something about the quality of that music, even when presented as shitty recordings, was undeniable. And with 85%-90% of the songwriting being credited to Pollard on those records, it would be easy for anyone to think that he was the backbone of this era of GBV. Continue reading →
