Dead to Me

Dead to Me: Wait for It... Wait for It... [7-inch]Wait for It... Wait for It... [7-inch] (2010)
Brick Gun

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: thepopeofchili-townthepopeofchili-town
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Published on March 4th 20112010's Wait for It... Wait for It 7" on Brick Gun Records is Dead to Me's fourth release, and showcases the group's fourth lineup. The liner notes list the lineup as Chicken, Ian, Sam, and Ken, although the booklet only features pictures of Chicken and Ian, and the group recently stated they were "e.

2010's Wait for It... Wait for It 7" on Brick Gun Records is Dead to Me's fourth release, and showcases the group's fourth lineup. The liner notes list the lineup as Chicken, Ian, Sam, and Ken, although the booklet only features pictures of Chicken and Ian, and the group recently stated they were "excited to be recording with the new lineup or the first time," so it's not a huge leap to imagine the two recorded this 7" by themselves. It's also worth noting that this is also the band's first release not on Fat Wreck Chords, and without that Fat Wreck budget, the production suffers a bit. These sound like demos, or live takes. It's not unlistenable, but compared to how pristine African Elephants sounded, it falls a bit flat.

Kicking things off, the title track is classic Dead to Me. Fun to sing along to, with a little better production it would sound at home on Cuban Ballerina. It's the best track on the EP. The next track, "Pay Stub" feels like five songs rolled into one, and not in a "Bohemian Rhapsody"/"Jesus of Suburbia" way. To put it frankly, it's a bit of a jumbled mess and probably the weakest song in the Dead to Me canon thus far. That said, the weakest Dead to Me song is still head and shoulders above what most punk bands are putting out today. Closer "Attack Form" gets things back on track and ends things on a high note.

The biggest difference here from the band's earlier work, other than the muddy production, is that Chicken sings lead on every track. In the past, Jack Dalrymple and Nathan Grice's melodic voices provided a nice balance to Chicken's more growled delivery, and they are missed here, although I swear I can hear Nathan cooing in the background on the title track, much like he did at the end of "Modern Muse" from African Elephants.

As for the 7-inch itself, it's an interesting package. Its gold oil packaging makes it resemble a Little Golden book. The accompanying 20-page booklet is worth the price of admission alone. It will definitely stand out in your record collection.

Dead to Me's propensity to inject new blood into their lineup on a semi-regular basis keeps things exciting. This is not the band's best work. It's actually quite the opposite, but it's still an above-average punk rock release, and an enjoyable way to spend eight minutes.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

brady_brickgunrecords (September 16, 2011)

You can buy this album and other Brick Gun releases at www.brickgunrecords.bigcartel.com. Thanks for all the support and kind words.

eazyd3 (March 7, 2011)

gold oil packaging sounds really interesting. may have to get this.

thepopeofchili-town (March 7, 2011)

"I would like to hear this but I cannot seem to buy it anywhere digital and Im not buying a fuckin record player and I am sick of getting viruses so i can hear records....WTFF?"

If you buy the record it comes with a code to download it.

forfuksake (March 7, 2011)

I would like to hear this but I cannot seem to buy it anywhere digital and Im not buying a fuckin record player and I am sick of getting viruses so i can hear records....WTFF?

forfuksake (March 7, 2011)

I would like to hear this but I cannot seem to buy it anywhere digital and Im not buying a fuckin record player and I am sick of getting viruses so i can hear records....WTFF?

scientistrock (March 7, 2011)

Man, if you're going to do a song by song review (and I highly oppose that, even for EPs), at least give them more than a sentence.

StraightToHell82 (March 6, 2011)

The songs are awesome, this is probably their best line-up so far, but this release was WAY overpriced. The booklet was definitely NOT worth the "price of admission"... fucking lyrics aren't even in English.

shenaniganss (March 6, 2011)

"Wait for It" and "Attack Form" are sublime. Decent 3-track teaser.

Problematiclogic (March 6, 2011)

Cuban Ballerina is seriously one of the best punk records I've ever heard. Little Brother was excellent. African Elephants was terrible and this is just okay. I really want to like them still though, can't wait for the next record.

victim (March 5, 2011)

It does sound like a demo, and it does sound like they hadn't found the counterbalance to Chicken yet but I'm much more stoked for what they do next than I am worried about a 3 song EP that clearly represents a transition stage for the band.

Lmnndtlgrph (March 5, 2011)

oh -and yeah -i don't really get the complaints about the production. shit sounds good to me.

although i do agree that - aside from the title track -this isn't really up to par with dead to me's better stuff. i wouldn't go so far as the reviewer though and say that anything on here is among the worst. "attack form" and "pay stub" are just fairly middle-of-the-road DTM. far from bad, but not spectacular either.

Lmnndtlgrph (March 5, 2011)

got this for sale at:

trafficstreetrecords.com

warningdevice (March 5, 2011)

These are well written, really good songs. People who don't like this 7" because it sounds like a demo are missing the point, good songwriting trumps a big production budget. By far and away these songs are better than anything (except for maybe Modern Muse) on African Elephants. Easily the best DTM songs, and lineup since Jack left.

palpitations101 (March 5, 2011)

African Elephants: amazing record. Really.

Little Brother: Spectacular. I live on those five songs,

Cuban Ballerina: Life changing. Changed me as a person; helped me through the darkest of times.

I'm not expecting CB part II. Just keep going.

palpitations101 (March 5, 2011)

How dare you. Production great. Too many octave power chords, but a return to a form. Great bass lines.

Best band around today - honest. DTM has gotten me through the roughest times, and I need an LP soon. SOON.

Nate? Great guitarist. Good bye, and please, don't ever come back. Cruel World was amazing, but you don't belong in my life. DTM is my life.

"It's been 100 days since I mixed cocaine and water and shot it into my arm." Please let that number increase with every passing day. We need you.

woodprop (March 4, 2011)

Agree on the production, but the songs still stand up well.

levi-dolphin (March 4, 2011)

these songs rock!!! and "Wait for it... Wait for it!" has been my favorite song since 10/27/10... and i cant wait for a new album any longer!!!

pito (March 4, 2011)

Even though I'm still a fan of the band... having seen them live with every line-up so far I have to say that the first impression that I got is that this last line-up is the weakest one. And this 7" is kinda confirming me this impression. I agree though that even a relatively bad Dead to Me record is still in absolute terms a good punk record. But I disagree that constant line-up changing is injecting new energy in the band, i find it quite the opposite. When Jack left the band I was very disapponted and it took me a while to get used to Nathan's singing. And when I started to like African Elephant (which is a great record) the band already had a new line-up. It's not easy to follow a band like that.

jakegreen (March 4, 2011)

i got this record for pretty much all the nice little things it came with. it's not bad but i don't really like this band without jack. him and chicken compliment each other so well.

Chadreligion (March 4, 2011)

This was good... not the best work(I agree; not a good follow-up to African Elephants), but still stands on it's own, and brings somewhat of the more aggressive and abrasive side of Dead To Me.
Get it if you like all the other stuff, for sure though.

kylewagoner (March 4, 2011)

Also, to that guy down there, Cuban Ballerina had Brandon Pollack on guitar (as well as Jack) and Nathan replaced him on Little Brother.

kylewagoner (March 4, 2011)

Glad someone understands me when I say there needs to be a soft balance to Chicken. Something about this EP just lacks for me and I'm really hoping the new album or whatever they're coming out with brings it home. All my friends think I'm crazy for loving African Elephants, though...

Hubitcherkokov (March 4, 2011)

I thought "Cuban Ballerina" and the "Little Brother" EP had the same line up...?

All of Dead To Me's previous releases were boring to me through the first several listens, but when they clicked they were in heavy rotation. This release struck me immediately, and "Wait For It!" is one of my favorite DTM songs.

superskabro (March 4, 2011)

i want this.