Dead And Gone ‎– The Beautician CD

All thirteen songs are solid-- so solid, in fact, that few of them stand up and make a difference, melding into a half hour of steady dirgecore. But there's enough invention on the fringes to keep the momentum (the interlude-like "Ultimate Remote Control Toy", for instance, has a great burst of synths) and guitarist Rockey Crane plays grinding chords and arch lines with restrained but perfect color. On tracks like "Towers on Fire", he bashes the ground and then slices through with a high staccato melody; when he slows down, his lines chime through the doom. The rhythm section (bassist Brian Stern and drummer Joey Perales) is reliably heavy, too.

The Beautician is Dead and Gone's third album, following two that were produced by Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. I conveniently left that fact to the end, so that any of you who are too indie-hip to get near a Green Day-related hardcore band could give this one a fair hearing: the anti-commercial, rough-edged production, perfectly controlled mood and terrific lyrics make the music entertaining beyond the mosh pits. It's recommended to anyone who wants a good album to scowl with.

Label: Gold Standard Laboratories

Country: US

Media Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)
Sleeve Condition: Very Good Plus (VG+)

CD plays fine but has some superficial marks