Dave Woodcock and The Dead Comedians are a bunch of pasty-faced Sheffield bar hounds that slither out at night, burrowing up from the gates of heartbreak hell (just look at those somber mugs!). But instead of a po-faced dour plod, the Dead Comedians attack songs of booze, regret and wanderlust with a freewheeling, growling cockiness that recalls the timeless americana of the Low Anthem with a little Waits-ian phlegmatic noir without the carny sounds.
But make no mistake - this is rock and roll band that takes its cues from outlaw country and spits out liberating, working class music that finds Woodcock's bruised and battered lyrics ("Oh well I think I just need someone/ to come and cheer me up / Oh well that someone, it could be you / Yeah I think I need someone for to come and cheer me up / Oh well that someone might as well be you") ably matched with a world weary delivery that alternately wallows and uplifts. Imagine The National with a little less angst, a little more dirt under their fingernails, a little less of a stick up their arse.
One piece of advice - ditch the name.
Dave Woodcock and The Dead Comedians - "That Won't Bring You Back"
Dave Woodcock and The Dead Comedians - "City Lights"