Despite the name, Sweden’s Deadheads are not a Grateful Dead tribute band, but rather a high-energy boogie punk outfit whose blend of bright and punchy Dead Boys-style rock‘n’roll would serve as the perfect soundtrack to late 70s skating sessions while drinking a six-pack. Since the band’s inception they’ve been regarded as guardians of a legacy left by countrymen The Hellacopters, but thankfully Deadheads are a more fuzzed-out and crude affair.
Loadead showcases the band’s influences brightly and its noisy brew of Dead Moon, New York Dolls and early Turbonegro-inspired attack has an urgency that many of their Swedish contemporaries are losing in favour of searching for murkier vintage atmospheres.
Loadead was recorded live in the studio to maintain the maximum rawness of their live sound, and this pays off as high-voltage leads and screaming attitude are captured perfectly.
