SINGLE REVIEW: Dead Low – Listen Up! EP (Audio Epidemic Records)
Dead Low are a punk rock ‘n’ roll trio from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this four-track 7in is their debut record.
It’s also the first release on Audio Epidemic Records, a new indie label specialising in punk, metal and anything rock ‘n’ roll, and it sets the bar pretty high for whatever follows.
Dead Low feature members of hardcore outfit Revilers, thrash metallers Led To The Grave and MA punks Fast Times, and they’re as influenced by classic rock and metal as they are by punk and Oi!
That much is evident in opening track Spinning Wheels, which has some great riffing from gruff-voiced guitarist and lead singer Chris Crobar.
Second track Listen Up! is the paciest and punkiest song here, with a very UK82 sound, full of slashing chords, raw vocals and great interplay between Nick Hebditch on bass and backing vocals and Dave Reinhardt on drums.
Battle Cries, which slows things down a little, sees the band really show their chops, throwing down classic metal riff after riff, in a style most reminiscent of Thin Lizzy.
Things are brought to a close with Bloodlines, another slice of mid-paced rock which again blends those punk and metal influences and ends up being their own distinctive sound.
I hadn’t heard of Dead Low before this release dropped through my letterbox, but I’d thoroughly recommend checking them out, and can’t wait to hear what they come up with next.
Listen Up! EP is available in a limited run of 200 black vinyl copies and 100 on oxblood red from Audio Epidemic Records HERE, or digitally from Dead Low’s Bandcamp page HERE.
