Death Ships current lineup:
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Dan Maloney: guitar/vocals
Brad Smith: bass, vocals
Anthony Olson: drums
Jamie Cassedy: guitar/slide
Keep up with the boys and all that is Iowa-goodness:
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these people have helped us out in one way or another:
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Randall Davis:guitar/lapsteel
Chris Ellis:bass
Joe Galloro: bass
Sean Haskins: drums
Kathryn Musilek: keyboards/trumpet/voice
Dave Strackany: guitar/drums/bass
Evan Miller: guitar/slide
Flip Arkulary: keyboards
Wade Hansen: guitar
Anne: french horn
Matt Malpass: engineer/producer/crunkest dude in atlanta
Otar Taktakishvili: keyboards
Adam Havlin: drums/vocals
Ofer Sivan: keyboards
Influences
Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, The Zombies, Kinks, Wilco, the Shins, Simon and Garfunkel, Louvin brothers, Leadbelly, Will Oldham, Elliott Smith, Townes Van Zant, Eric Heywood, Johnny Marr, Duane Denison, Chet Atkins.
Our new cd 'Seeds of Devastation' is here, shipped to your door for 12 bucks!
'Seeds of Devastation' is now on ITunes!
Setting sail from the landlocked environs of Iowa City, Iowa, Death Ships are not what you..d expect. Rather than a band full of heshers, overrun with long flowing locks, cranking out screeching metal from Marshall full stacks, the bands sound eschews this notion by mixing up elements of rock, folk, pop, and alt country. Started as a solo project by lead singer and guitarist, Dan Maloney, in 2001, Death Ships now has a full crew, and is presently promoting their upcoming release, ..Seeds of Devastation,.. to be officially released Sept. 5th, 2006 on Faithful Anchor Music. This new release builds on the momentum the band has established from playing with the likes of The Decemberists, Pinback, Tapes n.. Tapes, Low, Jets to Brazil, and Sound Team, as well as playing frequently at such Chicago ports of call as The Metro, Schubas and The Empty Bottle. The record also comes on the heels of earlier success with their single, ..Thelma Lou,.. specifically chosen and released by Deep Elm Records as part of their ..This is Indie Rock.. compilation series, and which debuted at Number One on University of Iowa..s college radio station, KRUI. Lauded by both press and blogs alike, Death Ships were declared in the May 2006 issue of Alternative Press magazine as ..Unsigned Band of the Month... ..Seeds of Devastation.. was recorded with crunk hip-hop/rock impresario, and old friend, Matt Malpass (Young Bloodz, Lil Jon, Juvenile), in the summer of 2005 in Atlanta, capturing all the songs in a week. The band is now prepping for smooth sailing on the road for the rest of 2006 with a national tour alongside former Wilco member Jay Bennett.
Selected Reviews:
"Even in demo form, the Death Ships' song "It Remains To Be Seen" (streaming at myspace.com/deathships) is exceedingly lovely, built around a breezy guitar line and front man Dan Maloney's earnest vocals. The same could be said of the piano-flecked "Maybe Arkansas," a tune that -- much like the Dave Eggers penned "Away We Go" -- alternates between hope ("We'll plan a way back to the stars") and heartbreak ("It hurts like hell")."
Chicago Tribune (November 6th 2009 by Andy Downing)
"Seeds of Destruction is a lovely album—ripping in places, but mostly the hot swallow of booze from a jug on a stiff night—but as anyone will tell you (as Gram Parsons as their witness) Dan Maloney and his Death Ships are Midwestern weather when they’re on the stage, emulating the topsy-turvy form the skies take on all occasions where they’re from and where we’re from. Obviously, we have to respect that."
Daytrotter (April 2007 written by Sean Moeller)
"Maloney is without question a talented songwriter and the guitar play between himself and lead guitarist Randall Davis was exquisite. The band walks an interesting line between John Mellencamp and the Counting Crows and I found myself thinking “America, Fuck Yeah!” at a couple different points in the set, but it worked for them."
The Tripwire Live Review (Jan 2007 written by Matt Dufour)
"In Iowa City, the Death Ships squeeze all the imaginative sparks from the form. Songwriter and singer Dan Maloney tunes his voice to the pigeons cooing outside his working-stiff-apartment window, his band vaults from pretty drone to prettier piano pop, and "like a dreamer without a dream, a schemer without a scheme," they all find reveries in landlocked malaise. The Death Ships' melancholy is pure country, its rhythms are pure rock — and its willingness to take risks sets the band quite apart."
Riverfront Times St. Louis (April 2007 written by Roy Kasten)
"Starting off the show was Death Ships, an alt-country quartet from Iowa City. With a name like Death Ships and a debut album titled Seeds of Devastation, you would expect the Midwest's answer to Finnish super metal band Lordi. (We just had to throw a Lordi reference in there). Instead, lead singer and guitarist Dan Maloney crooned over slide guitar-filled ballads and upbeat rockers about the complexities of relationships and politics. Maloney's singing and songwriting carried the band, especially his vocal work on "Little Mystery."
Dcist Live Review (May 2007 written by Matt Sedlar)
"Primary singer-songwriter Dan Maloney’s impressive control over his songs, wringing maximum emotional weight out of a riff or a phrase, is all the more impressive when considering this is Death Ships first release. The bar has been set high."
Pop Matters Slipped Disc Feature (Jan 2007 written by Peter Funk)
"Seeds of Devesatation is a solid, promising record that has the potential and passion to be someone’s very favorite record, or at least one that they hide from friends and keep to themselves, a personal little gem that’s a confession from the inside out."
New City Chicago (Jan 2007 written by Tom Lynch)
"Seeds of Devastation is a type of still-life with accompaniment. With impressive scope and musical dexterity, it shifts its focus (perhaps unconsciously) from peep-hole to bird's-eye-view, from charged political narrative to musings on cities and relationships, offering us a varied and refreshing perspective on modern life. Replacing postmodern distance (okay, the name is certainly a joke) with a sense of place and honesty, Death Ships debut is a vessel that should carry them well beyond the confines of Iowa City."
Cokemachineglow (August 2006 written by Craig Eley)
"Why you should know them: Because their as-yet-unreleased debut, Seeds of Devastation, is itching to be your soundtrack for watching leaves change color later this year(here's hoping it finds a label home before then). The bands mature alt-pop style is wise beyond its years-and is completely unsuited for a band as heavy as the Death Ships."
Alternative Press (May 2006 written Scott Heisel)
"The Death Ships have very quickly become the most talked about band in Iowa City, and it's clear that it won't be out little secret too much longer. Dan Maloney and company have created nothing less than the best record to come out locally in a decade or more, although to think of them as local is unncesessary, with something so unniversally appealing."
The Little Village (October 2006 written by William Fare)
"Seeds of Devastation is a pop album shimmering with easy confidence and solid melodies. Singer Dan Maloney's olive-oil voice inhabits a slim juncture between David Bazan and Evan Dando, and the arrangements have a real eye for the radio in the right way, with lap-steel fills and full-sounding choruses. It's a surprisingly mature effort for a debut album."
Mammoth Press (September 2006 written by Aric Annear)
"Leave it to a band with a moniker and album title that suggest some kind of shrieking, hell-bent Finnish metal act begging for an assisted suicide lawsuit to create one of the year's most elegant and sophisticated indie-pop albums. Bottom line, "Seeds of Devastation" is a triumph in every way."
Press Citizen (August 2006 written by Jim Musser)
"I usually don't have an addictive personality, or if I do it's only at intermittent times. Everyone goes through their phases of different addictions (love, alcohol, sex, whatever..), my only constant addiction being music. Over the past month, that addiction has been with two songs from one band: Death Ships."
I Guess I'm Floating Blog (March 2006 written by Nathaniel)
Hi Death ships.. Thanks for taking the time to listen! Great stuff you have, just my kind of music!!! I hope the week to come, will be a great one!! Have fun, Josh
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