The Dracu-las – “Sleep when I’m dead”

by Ben Hohenstatt (@Hohengramm)

The Dracu-Las exude their B-movie charm with a cheesy spirit reminiscent of the horror hosts who roamed the TV graveyards on Saturday nights. Think Vampira, Elvira or Svengoolie. The kind of character who embodies and spices up camp while carving out their own weird place in pop culture.

The name of the bloodsucker-meets-girl group. The images of the creatures that permeate their promo posters and merchandise. The gleefully macabre album cover of their latest 7-inch reminiscent of both arterial and sea spray. It is a warm invitation to a certain type of listener to sit back and enjoy the show and the tunes Fall asleep when I’m dead, published in April on Power Trash RecordsMake sure that these listeners do not turn the transmitter off once they have turned it on.

Over the period from Fall asleep when I’m dead Trio of tracks, The Dracu-Las mine various veins of garage gold with great results. The A-side and title track “Fall Asleep When I’m Dead” serves as the group’s relative epic and showcases some serious musical ability. It clocks in at just over three and a half minutes, meaning it towers over the two-minute power-pop energy blasts on the B-side, as well as anything that was found on the 2022 side. Fever dream EP. It begins with an atmospheric, wordless introduction, which is accompanied by the cracking of Mitch Cady’s Drums that perfectly set the table for tired harmonies from Kyna Damewood (vocals, guitar) and Courtney Eddington (vocals, bass, keys). Guitarist Babak Khodabandeh provides enough flourishes to ensure the gothic proceedings stay on the right side of dirge. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable slice of summer sadness, and its scope and strength undoubtedly make it a standout.

B-sides “It” and “Nervous” are two tracks cut from similar cloth that take slightly different approaches. Both are songs that combine fun sounds with frustrations, but they have different personalities. With frothy guitars and a bit more growl in the vocals, “It” is a fiery rave-up about nebulous longing. “Nervous,” on the other hand, evokes the eponymous emotion with periodic key and guitar stabs and lyrics about existential dread, ensuring that the album’s closing words are “We’re just animals trying to make sense of the uncertainty,” which is pretty great. Together, the three singles make Fall asleep when I’m dead a bite-sized morsel that is worth biting into.