#SYSTEM OF THE DOWN CHOP SUEY SKIN#

#SYSTEM OF THE DOWN CHOP SUEY SKIN#

The Dead South dust off People Are Strange, shedding the lizard skin in favour of an MTV-Unplugged approach. Part II, inspired by the band’s own pre-show playlist, includes songs by System of a Down, The Doors, Cold War Kids and The Misfits.

“It’s closer here to heaven than it is back to the ground,” goes the song, now also a fitting encapsulation of the band’s feelings of anxiety and exhilaration about returning to life on the road.

Matterhorn, a gallant adventure tale that sees four friends set off to climb a mountain, also works on the level of The Dead South’s origin story. In a minor key, Keep On The Sunny Side, changes from sweet to sinister. Part I includes the Sun belt-meets-black belt take on You Are My Sunshine, in which The Dead South dig below the surface layer lullaby to levels of deep desperation, a mood well suited to the prospector’s baritone of Nate Hilts. Always playing against type, The Dead South flip traditional bluegrass and hard rock conventions upside down, drawing out an ominous, lurking unease in the bright innocence of Bristol Sessions-era sound, and pulling moments of absurdity and hilarity out from the hardcore bluster. The source material for the EP two-pack sees The Dead South trace very different musical lineages: one a beloved folk songbook and the other a set of volatile modern outsider anthems. Keeping the fast-paced and energetic approach of the original, before being thrown through a fist-pumping blender of raw and unbridled banjo hooks gives their version a wonderfully enjoyable edge that their devout fanbase will love from start to finish. These new EPs aim to add a more contemporary edge to the band’s own formative influences, and their reworking of Chop Suey into their own distinctive guise makes for compelling listening.

System of the down chop suey