Sunday, September 20, 2009

To Die For or D.O.A.?




Anytime a Hollywood type decides to strap on a guitar or pay a little visit to the recording studio, it is almost certainly a very bad idea. Think Keanu Reeves and Dogstar or, possibly worse, Russell Crowe's Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts (yep, that's a real name). But out of freaking nowhere, Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl) has raised a bar that few in his position have ever bothered trying to lift.

Alongside band mate and sort-of-actor, Zach Shields, Gosling has created a group called Dead Man's Bones, that shows both a historical understanding of music and an actors flair for the theatrical. Though they've only released a few videos of their songs online (the album is due Oct. 6th) it's clear that Dead Man's Bones stands up on its own as a musical project with or without its famous pedigree.

The idea is this: Compose a bunch of gothy folk/gospel/showtune songs concerning all things ghost-related and recruit a choir of children dressed in Halloween costumes ranging in ages 7-17 to sing the creepy background vocals. The original versions of each song were recorded with the help of the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir but when the band starts touring, early next month, they will rehearse and perform the songs with local children's choirs in each city they visit.

It's easy to see how this could all come off as kitchy or contrived, but Gosling's Elvis-come-Win Butler vocals make all these tunes about dead souls, well, soulful. The music itself is sparse, centered around Gosling's barroom piano playing or banjo plucking, while Shield's goes at his drumset with the wreckless abandon of a kindergartner. Think Arcade Fire but stripped down and unplugged or a dead 1950's girl-pop group who have climbed from their graves to sing zombie-doo-wap. Best played at Halloween parties or your next trip to the cemetery.

3 comments:

  1. I am so excited about this new band. I think it will be particularly interesting to see what Gosling fans do with it. I wonder if he will gain a new audience or just further enchant his already well-established fans. However, do people who like the Notebook like goth-rock?

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  2. I wonder if he will gain a new audience or just further enchant his already well-established fans.

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  3. I think it will be particularly interesting to see what Gosling fans do with it.
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