DEADBOY & THE ELEPHANTMEN (2002) CD

Dax Riggs has one of those voices that sounds like it came out of a Louisiana swamp at 3am after something went badly wrong. Before Deadboy & The Elephantmen, he was fronting Acid Bath, and that context matters here.

If This Hell Then I'm Lucky sits at the intersection of gothic blues, swamp rock, and dark Americana, all delivered with the kind of raw conviction that no amount of production polish could manufacture. There's a direct line from this record to The White Stripes on one side and to the murky, nocturnal end of alternative music on the other. It's grimy, emotionally bare, and carries the dark aesthetic of the best Southern Gothic tradition. Riggs sounds like a man with very little left to lose, which is exactly what this kind of music requires.

Full length album on CD. Released 2002. US origin. Genre: swamp rock, indie, gothic blues, alternative.

Fans of: The White Stripes, Agents Of Oblivion, Dax Riggs