The Dead 60's

If we’re going to draw a line in the sand between the new bands in the current indie scene then The Dead 60’s are definitely not from The Killers/Bravery, electro rock side. Instead they are one of those bands that sound a lot like Hard-Fi and The Ordinary Boys – part of the ska-punk revival where bands take a song written by The Clash, chop and change it slightly, then repackage it in their own shiny new material and wait for members of the music press to call them the most exciting, innovative and ground breaking band since.... errr, The Clash.

It’s clear from the start that The Dead 60’s have forgone a lot of their Liverpuddlian heritage. They sound nothing like The Beatles or The La’s. The most obvious inspiration both lyrically and musically is The Specials. Lead singer Matt McManamon sings with a Strummer-esque charm and shares the same political satire to Hard-Fi, who oddly enough share the same political and satirical take on contemporary culture that The Clash harboured.


The air raid siren bursts into life and the audience of Glasgow’s Garage is either about to witness the opening of tonight’s headlining set or they’re about to be asked to evacuate the building due to the start of World War 3. The band swaggers on stage reeking of confidence that completely negates their youthful image.

Kicking off with the third single from their self titled debut album ‘Loaded Gun’ is an energetic ska number about a femme fatale character. The songs sung with a plethora of attitude and McManamon’s vocals are as cool and stylish as Strummer ever was. The riff seems to be borrowed straight from the Batman theme tune and judging by the reaction from the crowd its ideal music to dance to.

The bass driven ‘A different age’ is essentially Madness speeded up. Worthy enough of a fast foot tap or the occasional head bob – but not one of The Dead 60’s most attention grabbing tunes.

‘Control This’ is about as reggae as The Dead 60’s get. I found it irritatingly similar to Ian Dury and the Blockheads, but the less said about that association the better! ‘We get Low’ is a chirpy effects laden track with tons of reverb. The audience really seemed to appreciate this and many of the more intoxicated members of the crowd broke into some pretty unimpressive freestyle skanking.

The Dead 60’s finest moment was ‘Riot Radio’, the fusion of an energetic guitar hook and a lively drum beat. It is there best song by a long shot and despite two separate chart outings has barely dented the top 40. It’s their most impressive song live, and the band let it run into a fantastic medley of speed guitar thrashing and frantic drumming.


The band was appreciative of the support and the Garage crowd really were up for this gig. ‘Last Resort’ and new single ‘Ghost Faced Killer’ were both saved for the encore. The end was a slight anti-climax, considering they had left two of their biggest singles for a finale.

The Dead 60’s have a great deal or energy in their live performances but they lack a lot of the variety and their songs do sound deeply rooted in the ska-punk vein with little sign of changing direction. Great news if you never got to see The Clash.

Set List:-
1. Loaded Gun
2. A Different Age
3. Red Light
4. TV and Magazines
5. Control This
6. Nowhere
7. We Get low
8. Riot Radio
9. Cold Soul
10. Horizontal
11. You’re not the law

12. The Last Resort
13. Ghost Faced Killer

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.