by Ben Hohenstatt (@Hohengramm)
The Dracu-Las broadcast their B-movie charms with schlocky spirit that brings to mind the horror hosts who used to skulk in the television boneyard of Saturday nights. Think Vampira, Elvira or Svengoolie. The type of character who both embodies and riffs on camp while carving out their own weird, pop culture foothold.
The bloodsucker-meets-girl group name. The creature feature imagery that permeates their promo posters and merch. The mirthfully macabre album art on their recent 7-inch that evokes both arterial and ocean sprays. It’s all a warm invitation for a certain kind of listener to sit back and enjoy the show, and the tunes on Fall Asleep When I'm Dead, released back in April on Power Trash Records, ensure that once those listeners tune in, they won’t be turning the station.
Over the course of Fall Asleep When I’m Dead’s trio of tracks, The Dracu-Las mine varied veins of garage-y gold to great results. A-side and title track, “Fall Asleep When I’m Dead,” serves as the relative epic of the bunch and spotlights some serious musical chops. It clocks in at just over three and a half minutes, which means it towers over the two-minute blasts of power-pop energy on the B-side, as well as everything that was on 2022’s Fever Dream EP. It starts with an atmosphere-setting, wordless preamble brought to life by the crack of Mitch Cady's drums that perfectly sets the table for weary harmonies from Kyna Damewood (vocals, guitar) and Courtney Eddington ( vocals, bass, keys). Guitarist Babak Khodabandeh provides enough flourish to make sure the gothed-out proceedings stay on the right side of dirge. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable slice of summertime sadness, and its scope and strength makes it the no-doubt standout.
B-sides “It” and “Nervous” are two tracks cut from similar cloth that take slightly different approaches. Both are songs that pair fun sounds with frustrations, but they’ve got distinct personalities. With churning guitars and a little more snarl in the vocals, “It” is a fiery rave-up about nebulous yearning. “Nervous,” on the other hand, evokes its namesake emotion with periodic blasts of keys, guitars, and lyrics about existential dread, ensuring the album’s closing words are “We’re just animals trying to make sense of uncertainty,” which is pretty great. Combined, the three singles make Fall Asleep When I’m Dead a bite-sized morsel worth sinking your teeth into.