If you're going to partner up with death, you better make sure you struck a good bargain, and it sounds like the reaper lived up to his end of the deal on the first album from
the Ukiah Drag.
In the Reaper's Quarters conjures the sound of a band who are camped along the banks of a swamp of fire, and have plugged in their amps to share a few tunes about what they and the other recently departed have been up to lately. Guitarists ZZ Ramirez and Brian Hennessey are more about setting a mood than showing off precision chops, but they certainly bring forth the deep, menacing flavor that this music needs on these tunes, with lean shards of sound punctuating their layers of fuzz and feedback, and the steady, unrelenting throb of drummer Tommy Conte and bassist Andrew Eaton mimics the deliberate plodding of the living dead. There's more than a little blues in this brew, but there's nearly as much bent psychedelia, gritty garage punk, and even a dash of metal for seasoning, and the fact most of these guys originally hail from Florida gives the music a welcome bit of Southern groove along with some for-real spooky weirdness (not unexpected from the state that brought us Satan-approved death metal). While
In the Reaper's Quarters shows this band have a very distinctive sound and attack (put on tape with impressive force and clarity by Ben Greenberg of
the Men), what
the Ukiah Drag didn't get when they shook hands with evil was top-shelf songwriting skills; these seven songs may have plenty of groove and room for guitar heroics, but there isn't much in the way of melodic frameworks or hooks, and occasionally it feels like the band is still playing even though the song is, for all practical purposes, over already. But there's too much potential in this band to ignore, and if you're interested in sleeping with evil,
the Ukiah Drag sound like the kind of guys who would be happy to share their tent as long as you'll pitch in for the next bottle of Old Crow. ~ Mark Deming