Silver Daggers
new high & ord
Load Records, 2007

The name of this Los Angeles quintet, christened after the Joan Baez version of the American folk ballad, “Silver Dagger,” evokes images of a daughter whose mother keeps the boys away with a knife, particularly this particularly poetic verse:

My daddy is a handsome devil
He’s got a chain five miles long
From every link a heart does dangle
Of some fair maid he’s loved and wronged

When I found out when they were on Load Records, I had an idea this wasn’t gonna be some breezy neo-folk thang. I later learned that, more than merely a sharp weapon to keep your daughter away from, one could even argue that Silver Daggers are the antithesis of Joan Baez – irreverent, cacophonous, and funky.

Driven by a brutal, complex, and groovy rhythm section that could easily stand alone, the din of this fearsome fivesome is further augmented by the harmonic convergence of imaginative noise guitar angularity, James Chance-y sax skronk, super-synthetic keys, and helium high vocals. Think of international post-modern Dutch art punk circa 1990 colliding with early No Wave – or even better, in West Coast terms, a Slug-heavy Universal Congress Of jamming with the Screamers keyboardist. As with the better art punk traditions, it ain’t pretty, knows no boundaries, and contains both enough booty for dancing and enough musicality for deep listening.

After releasing a couple of seven-inches and an improv cassette, the group added a guitar to the mix and recorded their debut LP, new high & ord. The collection is a fairly accurate translation of the live power of a band that, on a Sherman’s march across the U.S., totally destroyed the Cake Shop the other night . And, as a bonus, it’ll take you about two seconds to recognize that the cover is by, even if you don’t know his name, the inimitable Gary Panter, the legendary L.A. artist whose prolific work in underground rock illustrations dates back to The Screamers era.

While there ain’t a song without at least a few interesting ideas in the bunch, the Silver Daggers are particularly effective when they get a chance to stretch out and let you get lost in ‘em: the dance epic title track, the heavy build of “faithful unlawful,” and the relentless squall of “burn the world.” They also do a commendable job of sneaking a belly dancer in the back door of the title track, “untame,” “governkkk,” “ghosted,” and “joy.”

Even if you can’t get into rhythmically challenging music or dissonance, you may still find yourself dancing to, or even humming a melody from, new high & ord.

Download a FREE MP3 Silver Daggers’ “Joy” at NewYorkNightTrain’s Digital Dump
Go to the Silver Daggers Load Records page