Dead and Loving It
Leslie Nielson; the silver haired, funny man with the deadpan delivery, loved Fort Lauderdale. He’s buried in the cemetery right behind Tom Jenkins barbecue off Davie Boulevard and Federal Highway. You can go visit his grave, and I suggest you do. It reads, “Let ‘er Rip!” Dead and Loving It, are a band of dudes who enjoy Mel Brooks films and punk rock in all its forms. In their quiet moments they refer to themselves as: “Art punk,” however, there are others who refer to them in every possible way but that. No matter; what’s punk if not an open field of interpretation of all things rock and roll? And what’s “Art punk” if not a distillation of all things that may not fit into that last category?
Dead and Loving It, is an amalgamation of members of the bands Chaucer and Problem Child. This festering boil of deliciousness came together at a warehouse party where both bands played; everybody was goofed out of their gourds and someone marked their territory on a biker’s chopper; which almost resulted n gunplay. A good time was certainly had by most. If you’ve been paying attention for the last year or so, you might realize that those two bands are not, exactly, synonymous with the same circles of music. It’s sort of like, if the Frogs and the Dwarves decided to co-habitat and made a baby band: dwarf frogs? Anyway, despite their best efforts to sound aloof and underwhelmed with their growing popularity in the region, they average a new song every practice. Direct quote: “That’s what Dead and Loving It is all about: Not really doing our best.”
Currently, the band is recording its first full length, “the first of many, hopefully.” Per drummer, Taylor Yakk. Hopefully, this group of freak-punk, artsy aggregators can take what they love and build on it in a way that sways the direction of the music into an arena of uncompromised awesomeness. It wouldn’t surprise me if this pastiche of odd ball ideas was one of the freshest things to come out of the tri-county area in a while; I’m just saying, I have high hopes.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It, isn’t the greatest Mel Brooks film ever, but it’s a fun ride. More importantly, Leslie Nielson started his acting career as a very serious dramatic actor. But, just when people expected him to do what he always did, he did Airplane! It was a parody of every role he had ever played up until that point and he never returned to dramatic roles. Who knows, maybe Dead and Loving It, will be the Police Squad of these fellas musical careers? Maybe the culmination of these two crazy sounds is exactly what was needed to get to what really, really works? Hey, if not their normal bands are all rad too. In the meantime: “Let ‘er Rip!”
