Hot and fresh, "Safety Goggles and Headphones" by the Deathray Davies
Dallas' beloved indie rock band the Deathray Davies only played one show last year because the members took a little break to do their own things. Singer John Dufilho was spending most of his time with the Apples in Stereo as their new drummer and Jason Garner focused on his work with the Paper Chase. But throughout this self-imposed hiatus, those two have been slowly recording the next DRD album.
And hot damn, Dufilho decided he'd let me play you one of the rough demos that might make said album. Yeah, I'm still in shock.
Don't get Dufilho wrong -- he's not anywhere near done with the album, and there's no working title, either. He told me on the phone today that he's got about 30 rough tracks done, and will continue to make more with Garner and several local musician friends. So far, he's brought members of Shibboleth, Happy Bullets, the Crash That Took Me and Apples in Stereo into the studio to contribute different parts.
The track you're about to hear, "Safety Goggles and Headphones" may not make the album, but Dufilho said it hints at the direction DRD is going with the new music.
"Both Jason and I are playing drums on this track. We set up two kits," he said. "This was the first one we tried it on, and it worked so well that we kept doing it. ... Lyrically, the song is just sort of dreamlike."
Deathray Davies, "Safety Goggles and Headphones":
But wait, there's more!
For the last few years, Dufilho's been talking about this guest singer album he's working on, in which several well-known musicians sing songs he's written. The guest vocalists include Ben Kweller, the Old 97's' Rhett Miller, Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, Pleasant Grove's Marcus Striplin, Salim Nourallah, the Drams' Brent Best, the Apples' Robert Schneider and the Crash's Dylan Silvers.
And then there's one featuring Centro-matic's Will Johnson, a rough demo of which I'll play you now.
Will Johnson, "Big Distortion":
Like the DRD record, there's no timeframe for this guest-singer release. So be patient, lambs.
One thing that could help pass the time quite nicely is DRD countrified side-project I Love Math's new CD, coming out May 27. I'll have much more on that (including a new track) on Friday. Whew. All this excitement has made me tired.
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