Song of the day – 298: Yeh Deadlies (free download)
This is what the early parts of the 90s sounded like to me … um, the good early parts.
I dunno. There doesn’t seem to be any differentiation. Some bands get it. Some bands don’t. Dublin’s ramshackle Yeh Deadlies do, maybe because they keep the music loose enough to let the melodies flow, and because they have distinctive male and female voices, and distinctive male and female harmonies, and aren’t scared to take a breather when drinking is required. It isn’t simply a matter of liking some of the same records as me – at a glimpse, I’d say Blake Babies, Television Personalities, Pavement and Sebadoh (of course), Buffalo Tom, These Dancing Days, Comet Gain. If it were, I’d be posting up 100 songs every day in this series. It’s a matter of understanding the spirit behind some of these recordings and then trying not to duplicate it. There’s such a wonderfully warm feeling to Yeh Deadlies’ music.
The free stuff is here. It’s their entire catologue, from the look of it – and there’s also a (debut) album out shortly, The First Book Of Lessons. That’s the one I’m listening to, and thoroughly enjoying. You can choose to donate if you desire, and if you’re a Yeh Deadlies fan then I’d merit they’re far more deserving of your money than if you aren’t. Find out more here.
N.B. I first encountered this album via a shared Dropbox folder. I had no idea who’d sent it – the name Padraig O’Reilly meant nothing to me. And it was simply marked “Yeh D masters”, no other info. That meant even less. I loved it, so I did a little amateur detective work. I’m glad I did.
The sound quality on this video is quite, uh, raw. You might want to check out the downloads first.
I would’a posted this one, but then you’d’a gone away thinking they were a folk trio in the style of Gorky’s.