In our oh-so-American rush to conquer new frontiers in popular music, let us not forget that the dance party, and its belligerent cousin, the mosh pit, are fundamentally identical to their historical equivalent, the hoedown.
Nowhere is this more evident than at an O’Death show, one of which will take place Saturday at the Middle East in Cambridge.
“There’s a dirty, stripped down rawness to old Americana,” drummer David Rogers-Berry explained over the phone during a break while working as an extra in amusic video. “People buy into the gimmick of chains and banjos, but we just want to make good songs. That’s all we care about. These just happen to be the tools we use. At the same time, we’re huge fans of the Misfits. And I love Bad Brains, because that stuff has the same energy: completely guttural, absolutely visceral music that makes you feel alive.”
A series of chance encounters led Rogers-Berry, banjo/ukulele player Gabe Darling and singer/guitarist Greg Jamie to inaugurate O’Death in 2003 while attending Purchase College. After filling out its lineup and graduating, O’Death relocated to New York City.
Lacking an easier way to publicize themselves, they played live shows on a shoestring budget, performing more than 100 shows in 2006. Recent appearances at SXSW indicate that the grind is paying off, as was inevitable. Nothing this cool stays unknown for long.
O’Death songs conjure phantasms of train-hopping desperation, Hooverville ennui and moonshine sing-alongs around the campfire, often while retaining danceability. Jamie’s vocals bounce from delicate, forlorn wails, snarling hollers and livid screeches while the band discharges bluegrass and punk ferocity, occasionally utilizing gas cans and chains.
“Lately I’ve been using more traditional cymbals, but I used to mostly use broken and stacked cymbals,” said Rogers-Berry. “I wanted my drum set to sound more like a tool shed falling down a mountain than a drum set. That’s just part of the style in this world of dark Americana. I buy my instruments at the hardware store. That’s what works for me.”
Although O’Death shares instrumental, sonic and, while performing, visual characteristics with a hell-spawned jug band, it is not one. That doesn’t mean there isn’t such a thing.
“Out west, we’ve come into contact with the gutter-punk scene,” said Rogers-Berry, “which has really embraced hobo culture. They’re playing in jug bands, and really living it.
“That’s awesome, but that’s not what we do. We live in New York City and have to hold down three jobs at a time to make records. But we don’t hop trains. I’m from South Carolina and they don’t do that (stuff) down there anymore either.”
O’Death, with Murder by Death and Kiss Kiss, Saturday at the Middle East, Cambridge. Tickets: $12; 617-864-EAST.
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