Punk rock ep’s certainly don’t last very long from the perspective of a clock, but put together some good songs and time seems barely relevant.
Dead Words hails from Fort Worth, TX, which is sort of close to Dallas for those geographically impaired. Then again, give the size of Texas, “sort of close” could be really far away, but just take my word for it, that the two are near each other. So, now that you know where they’re from, you should also know that this ep follows the release of their full-length There Must Be Someone Out There in late December 2013. In true punk rock fashion, the band has spent a good bit of time on the road and recently returned from a jaunt that took them all the way to New York City and Washington DC where they were frequently posting pictures on their Facebook page of the iconic places they were hanging out at. As if the tour wasn’t enough, the band will soon be playing a short festival in San Antonio, Texas with the likes of Grave Robber, xLooking Forwardx, FBS, and OCD.
Melodic punk rock abounds on the ep and brings to mind everything from ALL to later Descendents to Green Day and other poppy-sounding punk bands. Production quality is good, although I would like to the guitars to have a bit more bite and be a bit more distinct, but that’s a minor quibble. “Burn” is the fastest, most punk, least poppy of the songs on the ep and as such is my favorite. That being said, the rest of the songs are more mid-tempo, but still have that catchy quality that good songs in the genre all have. Performances all around are strong and like good ep’s do, this one makes you want more from the band.
Rating: 7/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist:
1. Burn
2. 3 for 3
3. OMWC
4. Tonight
Band Members:
Garrett Hollowell – Vocals/Guitar
Clayton Newman – Bass
Justin Peoples – Guitar
JP Thomas – Drums
Albums:
“August 2011 Demos” [2011]
“There Must Be Someone Out There” [2013]
“Hey Rockers!” EP [2014]
Record Label: Independent, 2014