{"id":2122,"date":"2009-04-14T22:03:51","date_gmt":"2009-04-15T02:03:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2009-04-16T09:21:31","modified_gmt":"2009-04-16T09:21:31","slug":"the-dexateens-are-coming-the-dexateens-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-dexateens-are-coming-the-dexateens-a\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dexateens are coming! The Dexateens are coming!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hHun18Uj8fM?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nI got an email the other day that\u2019s the best news I\u2019ve had all year.  <b>The Dexateens<\/b> are releasing their new album, <em>Singlewide<\/em> and for the first time ever, they\u2019re going to tour to promote it!  You probably don\u2019t know who The Dexateens are, but in my little part of the world, they get as much play as any other band I\u2019ve ever followed.  They were my New Favorite Band back before someone at <strong>Fox<\/strong> pissed me off and I quit my occasionally updated and hardly read blog.  They have too many releases to maintain that title, so they just fall into the category of one of My All-Time Favorite Bands Ever category.<\/p>\n<p>I found out about them in the best way to find out about a band.  I was shopping at <b>My Mind\u2019s Eye<\/b> in Lakewood, OH and in the miscellaneous \u201cDs\u201d I saw their first album.  I liked the cover, and I <i>loved<\/i> their name.  I flipped it over and saw they were on <b>Estrus<\/b> and I figured the odds were damned good that this band was gonna have some guitar firepower.  I have always shopped like that, and I usually have good luck.  I had a few other things that day and when I got in my car I listened to those while I was driving around doing my job.  I never got around to The Dexateens that day, but the next day I looked at the stack of new stuff and popped that in first and headed for the other side of town.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know what it is about twangy punk that I like, but it\u2019s something.  I never cared much for Southern Rock, mostly because I never much cared for The South, I guess.  I live as far North as you can get in my part of the country, and if you go a few miles north in Lake Erie, you\u2019re in Canada.  So I feel a lot more in common with that nation than I do with the Deep South of my own country.  I hate the racism and the stereotypes of The South, and my few dealings and visits there didn\u2019t do anything to change my mind.  When I popped in the first Dexateens album and &#8220;Cardboard Hearts&#8221; staggered up and slapped me in the face I knew I was gonna be hooked.  This was fast, sloppy, loud and just made me want to knock off early, get some beers and make some noise!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/CardboardHearts.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Cardboard Hearts&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I had started listening to <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/03\/28\/insta_review_drive_by_truckers_lemgbrigh\">Drive By Truckers<\/a><\/b> around that time, and I was seeing that the music coming out of The South was completely different from what I thought it would be.  I <i>like<\/i> DBT, but I\u2019m not one of their legendary fans.  They just made me think I shouldn\u2019t judge 50 or so million people by some hang-ups I had.  I\u2019d been listening to <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php\/2008\/11\/26\/lucero\">Lucero<\/a><\/b> a lot and I was feeling pretty wrong about a lot of my preconceptions of The South, and here was a band that just seemed all fired up for fun.  I was totally unprepared for &#8220;Cherry,&#8221; a 200 mph bitter diatribe against Bobby Frank Cherry, a white guy that bombed a Black church in 1963, killed four Black girls and lived free to boast about it until 2002.  Then he was tried and put in jail, and that\u2019s where the SOB died.  These guys \u2013 The Dexateens \u2013 seemed like a band I could really get behind.  By the time the Stonesy &#8220;Shelter&#8221; played, I really thought I might just play the first five songs on this album all day and never move past them.  I started looking all over to see if they would play in Cleveland, because I couldn\u2019t wait!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/Cherry.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Cherry&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/Shelter.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Shelter&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When their second album, <em>Red Dust Rising<\/em>, came out in 2005, I was ready for another sonic assault with some decent lyrics and plenty of guitars.  They were still on Estrus and I was pretty sure that it would just be more of the same, but that sameness would be just fine by me.  What I got was still plenty of guitars, but more twang, and a more deliberate pace.  I was thinking maybe they needed a slow song so they could take a break a little during their shows, but this was different.  I had tried finding out something about them, and it led me to a band called <b>The Quadrajets<\/b> who were a big influence on The Dexateens.  I really assumed <em>Red Dust Rising<\/em> would be the same thing, and I was wrong.  They still played some things fast and loud, but they were tighter and their sound was more their own.  It\u2019s definitely Southern Rock, but where that wall used to be impenetrable to me, their attitude and good sense to use many loud guitars whenever possible had me won over.  I hate picking songs from this album for you, because I think everyone should have this one and there isn\u2019t a weak spot on it.  I think &#8220;Take Me to the Speedway&#8221; portrays their frustration of things in The South, but it works as a personal relationship, which I think is something Southerners feel more deeply than those of us up North.  &#8220;Devoted to Lonesome&#8221; almost caught me by surprise, but that had already happened with the title track, and I knew I had found a band that I could really get behind.  Still no Cleveland shows, though.  I consoled myself with the boogie of &#8220;Pistol Totin\u2019 Man.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/TakeMetotheSpeedway.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Take Me to the Speedway&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/DevotedtoLonesome.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Devoted to Lonesome&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/PistolTotinMan.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Pistol Totin\u2019 Man&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>(Much more after the jump!)<\/em><br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThe next thing that happened was an Italian release of their first recording sessions (I think \u2013 they happened before the first album came out), called <em>Teenager<\/em>.  These songs are very strongly influenced by The Quadrajets, and they\u2019re all fast, hard and noisy.  The subtleties of some of their lyrics or playing are all missing here.  All that\u2019s left is Kick and Ass.  There\u2019s a sameness to the songs, but it\u2019s okay in the way <b>Motorhead<\/b> is okay.  Yeah, it\u2019s the same pounding song, but it\u2019s a great pounding song and they only play it for 20 minutes or so, so it\u2019s a good way to get fired up for a night out.  No shows in Cleveland, but I think Europe got to go see them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/Teenager.mp3\" title=\"\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Teenager&#8221;<\/a><\/p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yStaY9BuF3s?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><p>In 2007, <b>Skybucket<\/b> released <em>Hardwire Healing<\/em>, which was produced by <b>Patterson Hood<\/b> and <b>Dave Barbe<\/b>.  At this point I had no idea what The Dexateens might try, but I was betting I\u2019d like it.  <em>Hardwire Healing<\/em> is a more traditional Southern Rock sounding piece, but it\u2019s still infectious as hell and lyrically a step up from <em>Red Dust Rising<\/em>.  I thought a song about Neil Armstrong being up on the moon for 25 years before coming down would be really bad, but I like it a lot.  We also get a wonderful, slow quiet drinking song called &#8220;Downtown&#8221; that I never would have thought the band of &#8220;Teenager&#8221; or the first album would have done.  The first time I played this, I had no idea what would come up from song to song, and there are definitely more acoustic songs on this one, and a weird thing called &#8220;Outside the Loop&#8221; that mentions Ohio.  Bodes well for a tour, huh?  One of the band members is in Ohio at this point, so I\u2019m only a little disappointed when the closest they get to me is Columbus opening for DBT.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/Downtown.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Downtown&#8221;<\/a><\/p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/le94pOPARZA?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><p>Which brings us to their last album, <em>Lost and Found<\/em>.  They gave it away for free, and you can still get it as a free download <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.skybucket.com\/media\/dexateens\/\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lost and Found<\/em> has more acoustic and slow songs on it, but they all have the Dexateens attitude and knack for coming up with catchy songs that never seem to get old or tired.  They\u2019ve honed the three-guitar sound to a fine point, the lyrics are the best they\u2019ve ever been, and where this one doesn\u2019t have as many gale-force rockers, it\u2019s their strongest album from start to finish.  &#8220;Mary&#8221; is a nice little rocker that sounds like a single take.  It sounds nice and live, like it\u2019s recorded in a room where the whole band can see each other play.  I also really like &#8220;Sweet Little Loser,&#8221; which may be my favorite Dexateens song yet. I think that\u2019s strange since so many of their songs are the guitar blasts I love so much, but there\u2019s just a lot there for me to like.  I like the way they put the song together; it\u2019s simple, but it says a lot.  Are they coming to Cleveland?  Hell, no.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/blogs\/rth\/Mary.mp3\">The Dexateens, &#8220;Mary&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now, they\u2019ve announced a new album due May 12th called <em>Singlewide<\/em>.  Mine\u2019s already ordered and will be waiting for me that Tuesday when I get to the record store.  There\u2019s a couple of songs on their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/dexateens\" target=\"_blank\">MySpace<\/a> page, but I won\u2019t go listen to them because I want to hear the whole thing.  I\u2019m betting it will be one of my favorite albums of the year.  Better yet, they have announced a tour to promote the album for the first time ever!  I\u2019ll be seeing them May 19th at <strong>The Grog Shop<\/strong> in Cleveland.  You should check their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/dexateens\" target=\"_blank\">MySpace<\/a> page to see where and when you\u2019ll be seeing them!<\/p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FVXydBdAd7Q?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I got an email the other day that\u2019s the best news I\u2019ve had all year. The Dexateens are releasing their new album, Singlewide and for the first time ever, they\u2019re going to tour to promote it! You probably don\u2019t know who The Dexateens are, but in my little part of the world, they get as <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/the-dexateens-are-coming-the-dexateens-a\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2006,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[163],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}