D. Rider – “Mothers Meat” MP3/download
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh boy, Mother of Curses ended up being a hummmdinger. I first got the CD version as a promo just as I was moving from New York to Colorado, during which time it got lost in the shuffle, then found the orange-vinyl version used and couldn’t pass it up (though I do normally have a rule that I won’t buy something on vinyl if I already have it on another format). Ever since I’ve enjoyed MoC more every time I’ve listened to it.
Known first and foremost as the new project of US Maple‘s Todd Albert Rittman, D. Rider are — but HOLD ON; they just changed their name recently to D. Rider Is Dead. And, naturally, a new album is in May forthcoming.
But let’s get back to the US Maple connection. Yep, that’s a big deal; Maple’s smoky, askew, astray, ass-licking take on indie-rock nihilism was confrontational in the best way, so to have a project like this come out of his camp is a welcome development. Just listen to “Mothers Meat” above — D. Rider aren’t a fringe band, they’re a forever band (and just who runs Tizona Records? First this, then the Racebannon/Merzbow collab; way to go).
I hear shades of The Dead Science, Man Man, Detachment Kit (in fact, that might be the closest match), Slaraffenland, and Mclusky, along with undertones of severe madness; this is what Fleet Foxes would sound like if they became intense and interesting.
At one point spraypaint-can-shaking and cornet become buttressed by soft-rock trumpets as bass blurts dart in and out like a snake’s tongue, lashing the mix then exiting, then lurching back in again. Can you … can you really beat that?
“I can be a cowboy when you touch it / touch it / touch it / You can be a princess when you touch it / touch it / touch it” … YES, good lyrics and compelling vocals wrap up the package, Rittman’s odd layering practices — often coupling extreme highs with devastating lows — stretching his crowing into shapes you wouldn’t think possible.
A lot of thought went into this record that hasn’t been acknowledged enough in the indie scene, myself included. It’s time to BREAK the silence, people; Mother of Curses is just short of classic status. D. RIDER WILL NEVER DIE!
Wait til you hear the new album! To quote Thymme Jones, “Todd has gotten really amazingly good at mixing”