I love when a band’s name betrays me. With a name like The Deadnotes, I imagined gloomy tunes, gothic adventures, and broody whoa-is-me moments.
What I got was upbeat pop rock that I am here for.
Yes, I could have done a quick search on the internet before diving into The Deadnote’s recently released EP, Forever Outsider, but where’s the fun in that? It’s a first time reaction, minus the YouTube video.
The German duo that is The Deadnotes released Forever Outsider on their own label and is known to be one of the hardest working bands on the German underground circuit.
I doubt they’ll be underground much longer with the release of Forever Outsider.
Darius, one half of the the duo, says this about being pigeonholed,
We’ve always been in a niche – too pop for indie kids and too indie for pop kids; too pop for punk and too punk for pop. For a long time, we’ve tried to create a space for ourselves as a band in these segments – until we realised that it didn’t feel right and we’d rather create our own space.
Whoever decided they were too indie, too pop, or too punk have lost their proverbial minds. The Deadnotes are an absolute wonderful blend of what makes all of those genres great. Their music and lyrics are hooky, catchy, and fun. Nothing more is required. End of story.
Jakob, the other half of the duo, says this about Forever Outsider
We worked, wrote, arranged and produced so much to finish these songs, more than we’ve ever done before – without questioning and overthinking much. We wanted to do exactly what felt right at that moment.
With Forever Outsider, the band explores their own fears and insecurities with bass for days, saxophones (hell yeah), catchy drum beats, and funky guitars.
The stand out track is “Downward Spiral” a superb song about meaningless hook-ups, dating and insecurity won me at the bass and slayed me at the saxophone.
With Forever Outsider, The Deadnotes have created a captivating EP that is authentically them and it needs to be on everyone’s radar.
MUST LISTEN TRACK: “Forever Outside”, “Downward Spiral”, “Dog Years”
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Downward Spiral”, “Dog Years”
