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Insanity Assassins

With a name like Dead Singer you might expect no singer at all or some kind of propped up corpse, I have to say I'm slightly relieved that it's the former. With little information available on their website, no releases and nobody else in the immediate vicinity having any idea what the band are like it's surprising that they get such a high billing. This could be interesting.

What you actually get is an insane mix of speeding guitars, bass and drums all mixed in with trombone! This really shouldn't work but there's no denying that it does. The songs don't appear to end as such but move into mellow interludes that then build slowly into fast and frantic riffs, or maybe it's just one long song? At this stage it's anyone's guess. What strikes you though is that the longer it goes on (and we must be getting on for eight or nine minutes) the more you find yourself drawn into it, the music really is that infectious.

During most of the performance a guy dressed as a waiter/butler walks slowly through the crowd carrying a tray of Stella and bottled water, all very bizarre but it just adds to the insane appeal of Dead Singer. Finally after about ten minutes the first song does actually end but it's not long before they're off again with more great riffs and strangely effective trombone parts. The music really is excellent, it's like a huge Hawkwind jam mixed in with Winnebago Deal riffs and a dose of Bad Manners brass section! Totally nuts.

The waiter finally arrives on stage and delivers a drink to each member of the band, curiouser and curiouser but quite brilliant. To top it all off they dedicate the set to Syd Barrett; I get the feeling he would have approved. Excellent stuff and one of the finds of the weekend.