Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants: "Self-Titled" CD Review // Show at Mercury Lounge on Aug. 14th

DOWNLOAD: Chris Shiflet & The Dead Peasants - "Bandaged"

Long-time Foo Fighter/Me First and the Gimme Gimmes guitarist Chris Shiflett just released his first solo CD (Le Coq Napoleon/RCA) on July 13th. Dialing back the arena rock sound of the Foo Fighters, this album is chock-full of soulful pedal steel and slide guitar-accented songs steeped in Shiflett's longtime appreciation of classic country artists (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams) and rockabilly (Gene Vincent, Elvis, Eddie Cochran). Shiflett uses these artists as a jumping-off point to go down a roots-rock path that has been traveled before by The Knitters, Lee Ving's Range War and later-period Replacements.

The nine-song / 35 minute disc never strays far from its core roots-rock sound but there are a number of variations on this theme throughout the disc. The disc starts out strong with the up-tempo and hooky "Helsinki" and moves from there into the Tom Pettyish "Get Along". Two of the other notable cuts are “An Athiest’s Prayer”, which features a duet with Heather Waters and "God Damn", which includes some stellar guitar work complemented by keyboards and the mandolin.



Shiflett's new disc is a solid effort but he doesn't quite have the vocals prowess of comparable singers like Tom Petty and John Doe and there isn't enough of the memorable melodies and hooks of bands like The Replacements, X / The Knitters or even the Foo Fighters. Fans of the alt-country/roots-rock genre will certainly find something to like here but this may not enough to pull in a casual listener (or Foo Fighter fan).

Chris Shiflett plays the Mercury Lounge of August 14th. Tickets are $12 and Shiflett is playing with Ari Shine.

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Chris Shiflett

Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) Releases First Single from Forthcoming Debut CD as a Free Download)

DOWNLOAD: Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants - "Get Along" (CD out July 13th)
Long-time Foo Fighter guitarist Chris Shiflett is releasing his first solo CD (Le Coq Napoleon/RCA) on July 13th with his new side project The Dead Peasants.

Dialing back the arena rock sound of the Foo Fighters, Shiflett plays Americana-laced rock songs on his new disc. The album is chock-full of soulful pedal steel- and twang guitar-accented songs steeped in his longtime appreciation of classic country artists (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams), rockabilly (Gene Vincent, Elvis, Eddie Cochran), and deep-rooted rock bands (The Replacements, The Rolling Stones, X). This album also highlights his versatility and skill not only as a guitarist – showcasing his deft playing in an entirely new light – but also as a songwriter: the songs are some of the best, most realized that he’s written. Lyrically, the songs frequently deal with loss…Loss of love, as in the soulful, heavy, ballad-esque “God Damn”; in the chiming keys and buoyant, ringing guitars that belie the crestfallen relationship-gone-wrong of “Get Along”; and in the pedal steel, mandolin, and evocative guitar solo that underline the heartache on “Bandaged”…Or of life, as in the stirring, bluesy groove of “An Atheist’s Prayer”; the rueful slide guitar, country swing of “Death March”; and the spry, jaunty, Old 97s-ian “Baby, Let It Out”.

The album was recorded in December 2009/January 2010 at the Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 in Los Angeles, CA, with house engineer John Lousteau, who both engineered and handled the drums. Shiflett called upon friend Derek Silverman to play keyboards and the trio would become the core band for the recordings. Once the basic tracking was done, various instrumentation was added by a select group of esteemed players, including Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello and The Imposters, Jenny Lewis, John Hiatt) on bass, Greg Leisz (Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Whiskeytown) on pedal steel, Stevie Blacke (Beck, Weezer, Colbie Caillat) on violin and mandolin, Eddie Perez (Dwight Yoakam) on guitar, and Audra Mae on backing vocals.

Chris is currently playing a few one-off shows in California prior to launching a full tour later this summer.

Links:
Chris Shiflett