Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It all seems in vogue, a return to the great Rock bands of the Midlands in which a generation pinned their hopes and aspirations upon, in which the past has become very much part of the future and to which The Dead Agents can be seen to be held deeply within this new and beguiling renaissance.
Considered to be self–deprecatingly as the Lost Boys of the new genre and alternative rock generation, the group, Geoff Fry, Adam Furmage, David James Foster and Adam Beddow, should be measured as much more than their humour and Midland’s irony suggest; for in their self-titled E.P., The Dead Agents come out from the shadows, linger for a moment as the last vapours of mist start to fade and then from out of the blue, they storm in, lyrical fists punching and connecting upon the chin of indifference and putting the thoughts into those who care, that this is a band, a driving force to get behind.
An E.P. much like a single, can betray, if not properly managed the intensity surrounding a handful of songs, the piquing of interest of a listening station in the cold war that is 21st Century music, one of constant information but rarely anything solid and concrete that might bring down the wall of often unsympathetic click and shuffle; yet The Dead Agents go beyond, they send out the signals, all the right signs that this particular letter drop is seen out in the open and one that deserves scrutiny and attention.
In the songs I Belong, Haters, Drowning, Be My God and Don’t Talk To Me, The Dead Agents relish the challenge of the upbeat and urgent, the messages coming over thick and fast and in the dawn of this new era of Midland’s Rock, The Dead Agents give the listener the distinct impression that no matter the guise, what is in evidence is the absolute sincerity and drive of the music. Passionate, loud, full of charm and energy; The Dead Agents are part and parcel of the genre rising again.
The Dead Agents headline at an E.P. launch night at Birmingham’s The Flapper on April 27th
Ian D. Hall