Dead Rider
Chills on Glass
Drag City

"Third time around the block is the charmer for Dead Rider; don't go home with this bunch, they definitely put something in your drink. Chills on Glass is a night to remember." (Drag City)

Dead Rider is a Chicago based quartet of rock experimentalism counting players Todd Rittmann (guitar, lead vocals - formerly of U.S. Maple, The Mercury Players, and Singer), Andrea Faught (keyboard, synth, trumpet, vocals), Matt Espy (drums), and Thymme Jones (synth, trumpet, vocals -- Jones has also been drumming for Bobby Conn, with Brice-Glace, as well as in his own project Cheer-Accident, and more). They have been around for some years, but Chills on Glass is their first long player for the Drag City label, following their previous albums The Mother of Curses (Tizona Records, 2009) and The Raw Dents (Tizona, 2011). They surf on different patterns, sounds, and melodies, and operate strange algorithms and frequencies. Read, ride, and algorithmics, aweigh!

Dead Rider create joyful noise-pop (as a fact, Dead Rider have recorded for the Joyful Noise label, as well), or maybe noiseful joypop. On their facebook site, they have labelled their style or genre 'slipbeat', while their agency tag them as 'dark psychedelic funk'. There's a certain wild, avant-prog-art style stamp on the band as well. According to Uncle Booking the sound and attitude of Dead Rider "examines total juxtapositions between harmony and noise, chaos and groove, bombast and space, beauty and disaster". Wild and wondrous, right on.

Chills on Glass is a chilling and stylish ride through a musical landscape on the side of where most other bands roam. Ten tracks which span quite a wide spectre of instrumentation, melody and arrangement. They are both spooky and charming at the same time. From the opening rhythms of "New Eyes", through the dark snarl of the bouncy "Blank Screen", via the weaved layers of "Weaves", and the wildness and melodic wilderness of "Weird Summer" - onwards, upwards, downwards. This is for sure a spastic trip through the underworld of rock. Captain Beefheart meets Pere Ubu meets a softer Girls Against Boys. My favourite track of the album is the fabulous "Cry Honey", maybe along with the more brutal "Blank Screen" and the mystic "Weaves". In addition, yes, add the wild "Of One Thousand" as well. Chills on Glass for sure is an exciting and intriguing listen. If you are up for chills and tickles down your spine, Dead Rider might arrange just the right ride for you.

Copyright © 2014 Håvard Oppøyen