Being Dead exists within a fantasy. Nostalgics privy to their instrument-hopping live act may reference the Austin of the Eighties, where subversive, punk rock-dabbling goofs lived in surplus. Others might notice their country twang and place them a century-and-a-half back, “when horses would run” and cowboys roamed the Texas plains. The group’s debut LP, following previous full-lengths as side project Zero Percent APR, lands somewhere in between. Alongside bassist Nicole Roman-Johnston, multi-instrumentalists Juli Keller and Cody Dosier howl competing lyrics in cinematic opener “The Great American Picnic,” as if bygone outlaws were plotting their getaway strategy over clomping steeds’ hooves. “Last Living Buffalo” chugs along with the same Western tone, while “Muriel’s Big Day Off” plays to the band’s surf rock strengths – until a jazz breakdown overrides its guitar jangle. Known for their self-mythologizing irreverence, Being Dead uses fairy tales as a heartfelt escape on When Horses Would Run, produced by Jim Vollentine (Spoon, White Denim) at Austin’s now-shuttered Radio Milk. “Treeland” imagines a world – nay, a way of life – still practiced by small-town hippies, while “Daydream” envisions Keller as a daisy in the dirt with vivid imagery of an acid trip. “Misery Lane,” Being Dead’s darkest song to date, soundtracks Dosier’s personal nightmare, where there is no happy fairy-tale town “where everybody’s holding hands.” Teetering toward throwaway status with its studio outtake feel, “We Are Being Dead” still manages to come across as a band mission statement with the refrain: “We’re having a good time/ We hope you’re having a good time too.” Through folklore and subterfuge, that’s been their goal all along.
Being Dead
When Horses Would Run (Bayonet)This article appears in July 21 • 2023.
