Get Dead – Dancing With The Curse

I’ve been pretty uninspired for a few months now. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was pretty upbeat. Working from home, being creative, and generally enjoying things to the fullest extent possible with the obvious restrictions. As spring drifted, summer languished, somehow we careened straight into fall. With that passage of time I have become a bit despondent. Colors have dulled. Highlights and lows have all reached their eventual entropy. Sometimes though, every now and again, you get a little bit of a boost.

Today’s boost arrived in the form of a brand new album from San Francisco’s Get Dead. “Dancing With The Curse” is out on October 9th, on the now venerable Fat Wreck Chords. What can I say, it’s a cathartic delight.

We were given a teaser of the album at the end of summer, via video for the intro track Disruption, a syncopated punk/rap number. The lead track segues into the remaining 11 tracks in a seamless fashion. The tracks move in and out of tempos from the fast-slow-fast-faster-slow-slower-fast-faster-slow keeping the sound swirling around in your gray matter.

Elements of folk, rap, ska, and reggae flavor the tracks and the band’s punk rock DNA. It makes  for a lively album, one which repaves well worn ground with fresh new layers. It’s good stuff. It’s dynamic. You know what I’m saying?

Things, of course, are delivered in a patently dark fashion, tonally, but especially lyrically. That’s what keeps us coming back, right? Take some lines from track 4: Stickup

Did you really think
You could start again
This place is collapsing
Hordes of incontrollable bastards
They are coming for you
It feels like this place is cursed
So do your worst
We are all going down

It’s not the sort of thing that engenders a lot of hope, not in a traditional way at least. There’s a certain comfort in knowing that you’re doomed, and it’s always nice to have a soundtrack to that feeling.

But, you know, there is hope. From track 7: Hard Times

Trouble breathing?
Feel like something’s wrong?
Have you felt like
It’s been like this for too long?
Is your heart beating?
Can you hear this song?
Then everything is okay

Maybe there will be better days? I know it made my day better. 

Here’s the deal, there’s a new album by Get Dead and it’s the shit, as the kids used to say. 

Cheers!
Jerry Actually   

Tracks:

  1. Disruption
  2. Nickel Plated
  3. Fire Sale
  4. Stickup
  5. Glitch
  6. Confrontation
  7. Hard Times
  8. 8 Track
  9. Green’s Girl
  10. Pepperspray
  11. Confidence Game
  12. Take It

Bio:

There aren’t a lot of bands like Get Dead around these days. Instead of worrying about gimmicks and trends, this fivesome from San Francisco, California have always focused on the music and that’s evident with every passion-filled note they play. Get Dead started out performing together in 2007 after their respective bands called it quits and eventually attracted the attention of NOFX frontman Fat Mike who produced the band’s first full-length, “Bad News”, as well as their new full-length, “Honesty Lives Elsewhere”, and released both records on his label Fat Wreck Chords.