The Ladies Of - Dead Reference

The Ladies Of 

​Dead Reference
self-released; 2016

​3.8 out of 5

By Mike Przygoda

Dead Reference by The Ladies of is a collection of influences and musicians a la Broken Social Scene that has some great moments amongst it

The best songs include “I Say Assassination, You Say Genocide” which combines pounding drums, interesting synths and an effective minimalist guitar solo into a dance rock track with sprinkles of Franz Ferdinand throughout. The harmony vocal has a great Gwen Stefani quality to it, but is mixed too upfront and a bit dry compared to the rest of the track.

Another strong song is “Undesirable” with a great soulful Bono-ish vocal, lots of space in the track between the riff, well placed synths and a strange but interesting twist lyrically in the chorus. “Rope Out Of Sheets” incorporates a play on an old spiritual in the chorus against ‘80s dance rock.

Other songs include the opener “Drunken Spree” a White Stripes-ish in its bluesy guitar riff and the tone in the solo as well as the overdriven keyboards. It's the type of song you hope to hear at bar on Friday night. Good rock with some attitude.

“Get Reborn” is the only led by female vocals, which is a nice contrast. The guitar patterns stutter in pleasant way while soft pads give the song a sense of atmosphere. It's one of the highlights amongst the batch. “Need The Calm To Erupt” is a Harry Nilsson type of song with Freddie Green guitar strums and good harmonies, though the song itself goes on a bit long.

The album closes with “Two Trains On One Track” which moves from a minor tonality to a major one between the verse and chorus. The melody is very catchy and the crack of the snare drum is excellent.The Ladies of incorporate their influences well into a compact but efficient package.

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