I first heard Dan Sartain on a 7″ single released on a Detroit label on Cass Records. ‘Gun vs. Knife’ was a two-minute pigeon strut in anticipation of a brawl between Sartain and ‘her man’. It was ballsy and bluesy.
‘if he wants it tell him bring it on
And I ain’t gunna be scared at all’
That was four years ago. Since then Sartain has released two albums and toured with the White Stripes, the Hives and the Dirtbombs. For those of you unfamiliar to Sartain’s own brand of Alabama rockabilly blues, Lives is the sixth official album (if you include self-releases) from the Southern fried singer-songwriter. Preceding the release of this album a track, ‘Atheist Funeral’, was exclusively released through Jack White’s Third Man Records as a 7″ single. The track is a thumping invite to attend his godless funeral, which could as well be from Tom Waits himself.
The album is a mix of dirty southern blues and catchy fuzzy rockabilly accompanied with Sartain’s bible-belt drawl and his who-gives-a-fuck cynicism. ‘Voodoo’ is a prime example of Sartain combining the scuzz and rockabilly that he revels in, his personal sound of the South.
Cobras are a recurring theme in Sartain’s albums. The Cobras of which Sartain sings of seem to refer to backstabbers and traitors experienced in his own life. Lives features ‘Walk Among the Cobras IV’. Parts I - III were featured on Sartain’s earlier album Dan Sartain vs. the Serpientes but lacking on the interstitial album Join Dan Sartain, so it’s nice to see a return to the theme on Lives. There is a definitely musical link to the previous Cobras too.
Lives is definitely a more polished Sartain than we are used to hearing. Better production and mixing is probably a product of the album being recorded with lo-fi whizzkid, the infamous Liam Watson and his Toe Rag Studios in London (Billy Childish, Holly Golightly, White Stripes).
Dan Sartain played Dublin’s Crawdaddy on May 21st
A full list of future dates can be found on http://www.indian.co.uk/tour_dates/
Dan Sartain: Lives is out now on One Little Indian Records
Dan sartain Played Space 54 in May ’10