Dexateens -lots of info here

[olwiggum]

That's what I'm hearing, but there's no confirmation. And by confirmation, I mean "official announcement". That's why I'm really bummed I couldn't make it down there.

[PeterG]

I listened to that performance live on the radio a couple of nights ago. Short set, but very good.

I REALLY wish I was in Bham tonight and tomorrow. So sad I couldn't make it down there. It's being recorded (audio and video) by a pro crew. Might be the last shows for a while.... or ever.

Say it ain't so!
FUCK!!!

[dime in the gutter]

I listened to that performance live on the radio a couple of nights ago. Short set, but very good.

I REALLY wish I was in Bham tonight and tomorrow. So sad I couldn't make it down there. It's being recorded (audio and video) by a pro crew. Might be the last shows for a while.... or ever.

Say it ain't so!
FUCK!!!

no inside info here, but i have seen a few indicators that point in that direction. total fucking bummer if that is indeed the case. i know they have recorded a new lp....glory fire, i think.

was holding out hope that they were just going to take an extended break from the road.

it's a sham(e)....it's a sin.

[olwiggum]

I hope that's the case. Since there has been no official announcement, I'm hoping it's just an extended hiatus or something, but I've heard things that lead me to believe otherwise.

[WoodDuck]

I hope that's the case. Since there has been no official announcement, I'm hoping it's just an extended hiatus or something, but I've heard things that lead me to believe otherwise.

[joelle]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tribblestudios/sets/72157624424411343/show/
raw power.
sweat and rock in black and white.
real real badass photography. beyond.

[dime in the gutter]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tribblestudios/sets/72157624424411343/show/
raw power.
sweat and rock in black and white.
real real badass photography. beyond.

amazing photos

[cpatrick]

Forgive me if already posted somewhere but hot damn look what I found tonight... 4 Dexateen shows with streaming, mp3 downloading, or FLACs for audiophiles like me...

Thank you to this awesome taper who shares....
http://www.patchndent.com/?cat=7

[Smitty]

Well known around campus, Crimson Cafe accepts Dining Dollars during Lawsuit. / CW | Rachel Hill

The Icon bar is now open downtown located on Greensboro Avenue. It was formally Traditions Bar. / CW | Bethany Martin


Robert Christgau says Patterson Hood can’t sing. How would Christgau, most eminent of first-generation rock critics, react to the bending nasal drawl of a Dexateens harmony?

He would like it anyway.

As vividly as Hood and the Drive-By Truckers rhapsodize “the duality of the southern thing,” the Dexateens simply embody the dichotomy. The iconoclast/traditionalist tug-of-war, the friction of reconciling Old South and New South values, the ragged love and hate of a twisted, inextricable heritage—these issues are not broached with decisive art statements like those of the Truckers, but instead come artlessly built in, allowing the Dexateens’ talent for accessible song-craft to flourish unfettered.

Even if the songs didn’t mean anything, you would hum their melodies in bed. That they are strikingly meaningful as well as listenable is a powerful double come-on. The mythos of the Dexateens story is heavy with such duality: astute bar-rock revelers, tawdry Southern gentlemen, country punks who toured Europe, local heroes still unknown to many in their hometown.

Tuscaloosa is their hometown, and the Dexateens may be the last great Tuscaloosa band for a long time. Now in their twelfth year, they are old enough that their formative band experiences drew from the scene that surrounded the Chukker, a venerable local venue and subcultural epicenter shuttered in 2003 after nearly fifty years. This healthy proximity surely accounts for some of the Dexateens’ quiet individualism and eccentricity, two much more rare elements in Tuscaloosa music after the loss of the Chukker.

In 2004 they made their first record, and have continued to put out one record each year until this one. Their musical maturation has been graceful and progressive, a dud-less sequence of growth. Think of their discography as three distinct phrases plus a couple linking verbs: the first two albums, a transitional EP, the third album, a transitional EP, the fourth album. The first third is the most raucous, the most pseudo-punky, the most desperate and hungry. The second third is blunted, more restrained, with a dose of whimsy and introspection.

The first is the under-two-minutes-long title track on their most recent album “Singlewide” (“now I realize/I’m singlewide,” whispers an infantilized narrator). Like the John Lennon track “My Mummy’s Dead,” which similarly functions as the succinct crux of its album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, the song “Singlewide” owes much of its potency to an expertly paced track list. Harnessing intercontextual forces as the Dexateens do on “Singlewide” basically hotwires the power of the discrete track. Such nuance manifests throughout the record, abundantly enriching repeat listening.

I am partial to 2005’s “Red Dust Rising,” the second album, which catches their most satisfying hybridity. Matt Patton’s bass line on the closing track “Coal Mine Lung” evokes what a heavy-browed glare evokes, and the implementation of electric piano lends deformed radiance to the dour vocals, until the song structure peppermint-twists into an inebriated, ever-moistening outro.

Unfortunately, if this column is your first exposure to the Dexateens, it may prove a bittersweet introduction. Rumors circulated all summer that Dex might be finished for good. I hesitate to report hearsay, but last month’s two-night billing at The Nick in Birmingham did look an awful lot like a farewell show, with special appearances by various notable guests.

The Dexateens have appeared to teeter on the cusp of disbandment before, most notably after the departure of original drummer Craig “Sweet Dog” Pickering in 2007. The current mix-up is even more serious. John Smith, who moved from the area several years ago, left the group to raise his family without the burdens of touring, so I hear.

The spirit of the band has always been wrapped up in the songwriting partnership of Elliott McPherson and Smith, who also shared vocal and guitar duties. The loss is certainly a setback and might be a vital one.

That leaves McPherson and Patton as the only two core members remaining. A humble exit would be understandable and unsurprising, but there could still be years to come for all anyone knows. If anything, McPherson and Patton have only developed their powers. And the three non-original members are not lackluster by any stretch, having done a good job assimilating themselves.

Visit Dexateens.net to download their 2008 EP “Lost and Found,” available free, “In Rainbows”-style, for as much as you’re willing to give. The records mentioned in this column should be available for purchase at Tuscaloosa’s Oz Music, located at the intersection of 14th Street and Hackberry Lane.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=n ... Rn6Xusu_UQ

[Smitty]

[joelle]

Ram it, Jam it
Five Questions with The Dexateens’ Elliott McPherson

http://tuscaloosamusic.tumblr.com/post/2582671634/five-questions-with-the-dexateens-elliott-mcpherson
^^^
very interesting read...


and

Top 15 Contemporary Alabama Artists

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/dec/02/top-15-contemporary-alabma-artists/

[dime in the gutter]

Ram it, Jam it
Five Questions with The Dexateens’ Elliott McPherson

http://tuscaloosamusic.tumblr.com/post/2582671634/five-questions-with-the-dexateens-elliott-mcpherson
^^^
very interesting read...


and

Top 15 Contemporary Alabama Artists

http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/dec/02/top-15-contemporary-alabma-artists/

excellent post and good finds.

great insights from an obvious lifer.

another solo lp and a shout out to red stick....word up.

well done, elliott.

welcome back, joelle.

[Van]

Thanks for the info Joelle. I hope all that music gets released at some point. Can't get enough of the Dexateens.

[Smitty]

listen hard for some live dexateens

[Smitty]

http://dexateensdvd.com/

[lajakesdad]

^^^^^^
HELL YEAH, that DVD looks great. Can't wait to see it. Looks well done.

[blackwll]

Somebody started a documentary on the 'teens a few years back but it was never completed. I emailed the person behind the website stub and they had lost momentum, apparently. Anybody know about this? It looked pretty cool. Too bad.

[Smitty]

Somebody started a documentary on the 'teens a few years back but it was never completed. I emailed the person behind the website stub and they had lost momentum, apparently. Anybody know about this? It looked pretty cool. Too bad.

Do you mean the one that turned into "Old Bryce"? It was originally supposed to be a doc about them.

[olwiggum]

No, there was a documentary about the Dexateens that was being filmed a few years ago. There was a trailer on their website for a while. It looked like it could have been pretty cool. I wish it would get finished and released.

It had some live footage and this guy with an accent (British, maybe?) talking about the band while the live footage was edited around it.

[dime in the gutter]

No, there was a documentary about the Dexateens that was being filmed a few years ago. There was a trailer on their website for a while. It looked like it could have been pretty cool. I wish it would get finished and released.

It had some live footage and this guy with an accent (British, maybe?) talking about the band while the live footage was edited around it.

http://www.skybucket.com/media/dexateens/dexapromo%20480x270.mov

rock, rock, rock...just keep fucking going.

this guy gets it.

would love to see this.

[dime in the gutter]

john smith rips like a mother fucker.

[Flying Rabbit]

That dvd does look great. Any word on when its supposed to be released? From that Ram It Jam It interview it sounds a little like it isn't too high on McPherson's to-do list.

[Van]

Some very cool info about the Dexateens. Check this out!

http://localmusic.blogs.tuscaloosanews. ... the-music/

[Iowan]

This thread is the balls.

The Dexateens strike a raw nerve for me. They make me feel fucked up even when I'm completely sober.

[one belt loop]

They fucking thrash it onstage. Incredibly exciting.

[RolanK]

Just starting to get into this band. Red Dust Rising the only one so far. Really liking it. Very difficult to get hold of over here (also not available in the iTunes store). More in the pipline via Amazon.

[Smitty]

I was recently given a collection of demo's/unreleased tracks from the Dexateens Red Dust Rising and Singlewide - I got the OK from Elliott to share them with ya'll and on my blog (welfare-music.blogspot.com), but until I fix me some cover artwork I'm gonna hold off on posting it on my welfare music, so ya'll get first dibs - enjoy, some really good (& interesting) stuff here.

here are the tracks:

More Dust
1. Enough of Nothing
2. Pistol Totin' Man (original demo)
3. Can't You See (original demo)
4. Anna Lee (original demo)
5. Monday Morning
6. Red Dust Rising (original demo)
7. Star Spangled Eyes
8. Devoted to Lonesome (original demo)
9. Sammy
10. Speed on Brother
11. Coal Mine Lung (original demo)
12. Bitter Disease
13. Locomotive

Singlewide Demos

14. Can You Whoop It? (original demo)
15. Caption (original demo)
16. Hang On (original demo)
17. Spark (original demo)
18. Trail (original demo)

Click here to download. Enjoy!

[lajakesdad]

These are all really great. Thanks for the post Smitty.

[acoxofrd]

Thanks smitty. Those are awesome!

[TW_2.0]

Awesome Smitty. Thanks