Buzz Bands LA  6/8/2011

Premiere: Dead Sara, ‘Lemon Scent’

Premiere: Dead Sara, ‘Lemon Scent’

KEVIN BRONSON on June 8th, 2011

Dead Sara fashions a strain of primal rock that’s loud enough to awaken the ghosts in both the indie and metal underworlds, and maybe even get them to dance a bit. The quartet’s sound is the brainchild of childhood pals Emily Armstrong and Siouxsie Medley, shredders both, singer Armstrong with her rocker-girl wailing and guitarist Medley with her lightning licks. The Los Angeles quartet is rounded out by bassist Chris Null and drummer Sean Friday, and their debut album, produced by Noah Shain, is en route in August. Blues-tinted metal, punk-spiked rebukes, arena-ready empowerment anthems – Dead Sara seems to drench them all in sweat and nudge them outside the formulas. “You gotta sink to learn to swim,” Armstrong blares on “We Are What You Say,” recalling the lineage of rockstresses who stopped doubters dead in their tracks. Dead Sara’s debut leaves little doubt that, at the very least, they are off to a good start.

||| Stream: “Lemon Scent”

||| Also: Check out “We Are What You Say”

||| Live: Dead Sara plays the Bootleg Theater on June 23 and the Viper Room on July 7.

Photo by Frank Maddocks