The Dead Daisies – ‘The Dead Daisies’

The Dead Daisies - ArtworkAny band boasting a pedigree that includes iconic acts such as The Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses, Thin Lizzy, The Cult and even INXS in its history inevitably has a helluva set of footsteps in which to follow, never mind a pretty impressive heritage to recall…

Based around vocalist Jon Stevens – who spent three years fronting INXS following the death of Michael Hutchence – and guitarist David Lowry (perhaps best known for playing alongside former The Angels vocalist Doc Neeson in the short-lived Red Phoenix), The Dead Daisies certainly boasts a stellar line up of musicians about whom it would be hard to argue in terms of the aforesaid references to ‘pedigree’ and ‘heritage’, with the likes of Thin Lizzy alumnus Richard Fortus laying down lead guitar licks alongside G’N’R bandmate Dizzy Reed and former Lizzy colleague Marco Mendoza (who subsequently has been replaced by Rolling Stone Darryl Jones for the band’s current live commitments.

The resulting, self-titled debut album bears the hallmarks of its respective protagonists, steeped as it is in the classy 70s blues vibe of the likes of Free and Bad Company – check out the swaggering ‘Washington’ for a prime example of the latter derivation – combined with elements of southern country rock, funk and good old-fashioned classic hard rock sensibilities.  Overall, it’s a very relaxed and restrained collection of songs, with a cool, mellow vibe which easily transfers the feel to listener:  yes, there are moments when the guitars do let rip – such as on the fiery ‘Lock N Load’ (but, then, some bloke called Slash does what he does best on this one), the magnificent romper-stomper groove of ‘Miles In Front Of Me’ and the uplifting, suitably gospel-infused hellfire of ‘Bible Row’ – but overall it is the warm, homogenous, laidback feel of the opus that makes it work so well on every level.

Track list:

It’s Gonna Take Time / Lock ‘N’ Load / Washington / Yeah Yeah Yeah / Yesterday / Writing On The Wall / Miles In Front Of Me / Bible Row / Man Overboard / Tomorrow / Can’t Fight This Feeling / Talk To Me

The Dead Daisies are currently on tour with Black Star Riders in the UK and Ireland, and you can catch them on the remaining dates:

The Dead Daisies27th November – UEA, Norwich

30th November – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

1st December – Solus, Cardiff

2nd December – O2 Academy, Oxford

3rd December – O2 Academy, Liverpool

5th December – Ironworks, Inverness

6th December – Picturehouse, Edinburgh

7th December – O2 Academy, Newcastle

9th December – O2 Academy, Leeds

10th December – Assembly Rooms, Leamington Spa

12th December – Rock City, Nottingham

13th December – Ritz, Manchester

14th December – Academy, Dublin

15th December – The Limelight, Belfast

‘The Dead Daisies’ is out now on Spitfire Music, and you can get your copy by clicking on the Amazon banner at the top of the page.

You can keep up to date with the band via their official Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/TheDeadDaisies

About Mark Ashby

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