Here I am in Prague; it’s 6AM and I’ve been out all night. I stick to the dancefloor and sway from side to side as I try to move in time with the beat. Some of my newfound ‘friends’ also dance whilst others hide in the shadows at the bar. By tomorrow, I will have forgotten their names but that doesn’t matter a jot in this moment. Eric, an American I’d met hours previously, offers me a drag on his cigarette. I shake my head as a shard of sunlight squeezes through the window and reminds me that it might be a good time to head back to my hotel.
Now, I’m in Vienna. It’s 3AM and the taxi driver has just dropped us off at this sweat-box. There are no windows here; everything is painted black. But after an evening surrounded by champagne, ice-buckets and bling, it’s exactly what we wanted. The combination of bass and beat stops us from thinking too much; we shout words to each other in slo-mo as the strobe effect plays havoc with our mashed-up heads.
And now I’m in Bristol. It’s not yet midnight and the party is young. It’s a student house in a posh part of town. But word has got around and the clientele that’s about to over-run this space with their presence aren’t your typical student crowd. Punks with glorious mohicans take control of the CD player in the kitchen whilst a reggae crowd sit in a huddle in a downstairs bedroom. I take another swig from my can of Scrumpy Jack and keep wandering.
Sleazy house parties and grungey discos – It’s fair to say I’ve had my fair share. The Dead Freights, fine indie from Southampton, would doff their collective cap if the evidence on offer in ‘Fever and The Thunder’ is anything to go by.
For this is a tune that could all be about those chaotic nights spent in pursuit of grubby pleasure. Charlie James, frontman of The Dead Weights tells more. “Fever has that concise chaos which is imperative to our sound and overall vibe as a band.“, he says. “To me, it sounds like a sleazy house party; a constant groove with moments of menace. It wears itself out then climaxes into madness.“. The accompanying video sees Charlie come a cropper at the hands of his fellow band-mates.
You can clearly see why this mix of grunge-laden disco (Fever) and traditional rock ‘n’ roll (Thunder) has been turning heads down on the South Coast. I’ve had a sneaky listen to their next single, Sufferin Safari, and it’s evident that there’s still some serious diesel in the tank. When the video for that gets released, I might well give The Dead Freights more coverage on this page. I do hope that Louis, Robert and Robby have dropped their obvious desire to murder Charlie by that point.
sonicbreakfast 