"ROCKS LIKE L7 WITHOUT THE VAGINAS" - justin timberlake
Along the perimeter of modernist salvation, a quartet fresh with mud from the banks of generations past forged a musical ethos known only as The Better Death. As their underground mutates as an honest and unapologetic score to the soundtrack of life, their surface holds personal vindication to such a culture. Performance is a platform for delivery and absolution, with challenging compositions for the sake of the soul and ultimately to entangle the listener equally in purpose and awe.
The memory of their former selves eroded around 2006, in a small Ft. Worth housing development where neighbors Ricky Wolking (bass) and Danny Handler (drums) started hammering out grooves that tested their ability, times infinity. Danny’s friend and fellow UNT grad Ed McMahon (guitar) joined the duo soon there after, adding yet another musical mind to the monster. Ricky called on Sean Dailey (vocals) to jump in and find melody amid the complex structures. It was gratifyingly obnoxious as the ongoing experiment eclipsed all previous musical notions. There would be nothing standard about it. How do you feel about leaving this earth at this very moment? Will you have lived a better life? Taking an oath and leaving blood on the floor, electrified.
A Texas buzz going down in PASTE Magazine's Best Music Scene of 2008, "Denton, Texas is simply the paradigm of a healthy music community". When the established and eclectic music collective Do For It Records came calling, it immediately became home and a launching pad for 2009.
Their self-titled debut plays to the listener. You simply won’t know what’s coming next. A memento to Jane’s Addiction and Bruce Lee, of Bjork and Evel Knievel, of Radiohead and Ralph Waldo Emerson; In the spirit of Mike Patton, The Flaming Lips, The Mars Volta and Pablo Picasso. The adopted philosophy of "as a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death" (Leonardo da Vinci) fuels their intense efforts to play outside themselves. Like their hooded high wire walker icon it was time to step out into the open, blind to their approach and balance the long thin line that separates us all from doing what we really want to do.
Reviews
Lit Monthly - Navajo Slim - Nov. 2009
A refreshing drink of rock propulsion is the best way to describe the Dallas band’s enigmatic debut album. Stops, starts, switchbacks, injections of mood, tempo and cadence tattoo the six tracks that lead you down a path that splinters into a dozen directions. That’s why I’m keen on TBD, it departs from the mundane... (Read More)
The Stash Dauber - Nov. 2009
What happens when sophisto musos go heavy? One possible answer: The Better Death. These four coalesced in 2006 with a mind toward creating a technically challenging rock music. Bassist Ricky Wolking and drummer Danny Handler play complex, ever-shifting time signatures with steely, virtuosic precision, while guitarist Ed McMahon (Ten Hands, Hochimen) alternately jangles, blazes, and skronks, and over-the-top vocalist Sean Dailey's contributions run the full gamut from gutteral snarls to operatic wails... (Read More)
Progressia - Aleksandr Lézy - Nov. 2009
Il faut beaucoup de courage lorsqu’on est musicien pour sortir du lot en ces temps difficiles où la dématérialisation des supports physiques culturels laisse la place à du « vite consommé vite jeté ». Une autoproduction a un coût certain et représente au-delà de cet aspect, une énergie à déployer considérable... (Read More)
Dudes, "Message to Your Rivals" and "Versus" are killer tunes. Love the time changes and syncopations. Love everyone together in "Versus' after about the minute mark - it sounds like gunshots.
Great new video footage! I wish I was there! Well, not now, but when you guys were!! Been cranking the CD in the car! Can you please put up the lyrics!
Just got ya'lls CD today here in Perth, AU!!! All I've got to say is that I fuckin' love it!!! Thanks guys and great job! Keep em' coming and lemme know on info for merchandise n' other goodies. Later lads.
Check them out here. I could write a lot of stuff about them (which I probably will) but it won't compare to reading their own words and listening to their tunes. They are great players. They are doing what they want. They have great grooves, arrangements, lyrics, melodies, hooks and "hook diversions" that keep the listener glued as well coming unglued. I want to see them live. I want to crank the record in my car real loud! Hell, I want to tech for them! They are the kind of thing on this planet that makes me question my surroundings, go through my pros and cons and either walk away uplifted or depressed. Either way, they got me to think.
I hope more people listen to them, I hope they find tons of success and then get their own label together, sign me up and put a ton of money into me!
I've known singer Sean Dailey since '96. I saw him fronting a band Freak Power Ticket and I was impressed, inspired and wanted to work with him. His path in LA was coming to an end and although we got together he wanted out of the heavy music thing at the time. Well, we stayed loosely in touch and I was very happy to become reacquainted with him and his new band. Also, I can go forever about the musicianship, as they are all great. But bass player Ricky Wolking owns it! It is smart bass playing of the best kind; playing in a band where your personality comes out but you are smart enough to be cool about what you got!
And that is that! Order the cd. Buy a t-shirt. Go see them live. Spread the word about real music. If there's a band that's gonna write the next rock epic, I'm puttin' my money on The Better Death!
Hey Wait a second! I posted a comment 2 days ago. It ain't there but the new one miraculously instantly appeared? Maybe I messed up.... Basically it said.... The Better Death rules and Ricky Wolkng is the best bass player in all the land! He owns it all and ain't selling none of it!
I need more The Better Death stuff! I need more tunes on this page. I need more info about the lads TBD!!! I'm gettin' bored here. Throw us fans a bone! Cover a number one 80's hit Better Death style! Do something! Are you gonna tour with Mars Volta or Naked City (yes I used to crank torture Garden)....Get signed already. Please, before there is another Nickelback record..... YY SPEED!
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