Coffin Draggers- Demo

The Coffin Draggers are a new offering from southern California’s well-established death rock scene, so you could be forgiven for expecting them to sound like it. They do share a rockabilly influence with Frankenstein, and the melodic power chords of “Love Song” might be a bit reminiscent of the Deep Eynde, but the Coffin Draggers have a sound all their own, one that owes at least as much to old New York hardcore as it does to the Misfits or the Cramps. “Dead Girls Don’t Say No…But You Still Gotta Bring ‘em Flowers” has plenty of spooky humor, but it’s the aggressive musicianship that really stands out on this demo. “Dead Roses and Formaldehyde” moves at a blistering pace, with crashing breakneck cymbals and front man Gator McMurder’s growling voice drenched in reverb. The production is surprisingly good, especially for a demo, but you do wish the bass would stand out a little bit more; one of the highlights of a Coffin Draggers appearance is McMurder’s work on the standup bass, and that furious live energy doesn’t quite translate onto these recordings. Still, it’s an awesome debut and hopefully a promise of bigger things to come.

If you live in southern California, you really need to check out the Coffin Draggers live; otherwise, visit their website at www.coffindraggers.com and check out their songs on MySpace at https://profiles.myspace.com/users/2343515.