Yes, Deer

Dear and the Headlights - Mother Make Me Golden

There is really nothing like young musical talent and chance opportunities. I think I have a pretty decent ear for talent, for the most part anyway, so when I get music from a band that stands out as remarkable to me, I give it a fair shot. Dear and the Headlights are a young band who have only been playing with the current lineup, and under that name, since last spring. Three of the band members had been playing together for a few years, but they didn't really have a rhythm section, and the singer was moving away, etc. These are the things that usually lead to a band breaking up, but things worked out, thanks to chance and a couple of fortunate opportunities involving a few demo songs getting recorded, a handful of early shows being very well-attended, and some local radio-play. As a result these young Phoenix, Arizona guys have a little following behind them!

What does Dear and the Headlights sound like? Well, from their demo, I get a sense of poppy, punky, modern rock stuff, and it is also undeniably a bit emo - in fact, it feels very close to being mainstream without actually being that mainstream (I'm looking at you future OC soundtrack*) - plus there are nods to the Franz, Bloc, etc. angular-guitars-British style. But, there is more! The other material, which I believe was recorded later (from their 2nd demo CD) has even more range sonically, with broader instrumentation, featuring piano, acoustic guitar and other stuff, and, with the strongest songs, feels a bit more like recent Spoon than dance-rock. Granted, I've been listening to Spoon's Gimmie Fiction a lot lately, as I think it really is one of last year's best records, but I like the fact that DATH's demo material sounds this good, and it leaves me wanting to hear where they're going next.

Apparently they are working on recording new material, but in the meantime, be sure to visit the Merch page on their site - you can get their two demo CDs (for just three bucks!), and they've got some dope looking shirts. Drop the band a line on their contact page to stay informed on their whereabouts, and check their Myspace page for more songs and info.

*The same goes for Ian Love