Atheist Funeral: XYZ review

Atheist Funeral is the editors pick this week on XYZ magazine. Here's the review:

The sun-scortched lands of Alabama have produced many seminal names over the years. From Nat King Cole to Hank Williams, the lineage of the deep south is drenched in history.

Having previously supported the likes of The White Stripes and The Hives, rockabilly singer/guitarist Dan Sartain is the latest Alabamaian to reach into the minds of UK youth. His new single “Atheist Funeral” is awash with all the Americana stereotypes you’d expect, only without the pomp or pretence of something less genuine. His obligatory quiff and pencil tash may be a calculated image choice but with such a haunting, authentic sound who cares? Confronting subjects such as death and the afterlife he’s never uncomfortable in his melancholy. Distorted bass and reverb-drenched drums give the single an unpolished beauty and, as Sartain croons in his psycho-Elvis style, you can’t help but become fond of his modern take on Americana.

The similarly morose B-side, “Crimson Cinema of Death” is very Ennio Morricone. The hypnotic guitar gallops over the twisted-waltz background like a spaghetti Western storm. Whether in instrumental or full-on, black-shirted maverick mode Sartain maintains his authenticity without sounding derivative. Check him out at Brighton’s Freebut on May 18.

7/10, out 10 May 2010.
Words by Mike Fawcett