BALTIMORE - DOUBLE DAGGER

Baltimore's Double Dagger make some of the most temper-tantrum, kicking-and-screaming, guitar-less post-hardcore-meets-rocket-pop you'll hear just about anywhere right now. In fact that is the last time I will try and describe what they play because describing music just never works, it's for people who write and read and care about Pitchfork and hyphens and genres or whatever. Double Dagger is just great.

You guys used to be in an outfit called League of Death. Now that is a band name. Whatever happened to it?
Bruce Willen (Bass guitar): League of Death died.

How did it die? Was it suicide or death by other means?
The drummer actually left to live in England.

So England killed League of Death?
I guess so. We were just trying to make this evil heavy metal band but we weren’t really very good musicians and it all just came to a natural end.

Did any of the evilness carry over to Double Dagger from League Of Death? The confrontational live element, maybe, but we just wanted to do this high energy thing and make it catchy, not quite so evil. We used to break a lot of things and Denny, our current drummer, really beats the hell out of his drums so I guess that has remained consistent.

Where are your guitars?
I just wanted to play the bass after having played guitar in League of Death and it just wound up that way. We just couldn’t find a guitarist that suited what we wanted to play. It wasn’t like we were inspired musically by Lightning Bolt or whatever, but I guess seeing bands like that made us think, “Hmm, maybe we don’t need a guitar.”





Tell us more about Baltimore. Is it all like The Wire and partying with Dan Deacon at Wham City with Daniel Higgs from Lungfish wandering around the place nonstop?
Nolen Strals (vocals): Well, we’re not really affiliated with Wham City but we’ve sure played a lot of of shows with those people. The scene here is so small that everyone knows each other and the bills are really varied which is good and everyone just helps each other out.

Bruce: Funny you should mention Daniel Higgs, he lives in the apartment below me. I keep an eye on his place when he is on tour and water his plants.

You’ve sold it. Maybe I’ll come visit soon. Your Post Typography design company made the nice poster accompanying this interview. How did you go from playing rock and roll with no guitars to doing graphics?
We just made a few sleeves and then set up the company and somehow it ended up becoming our job.

Double Dagger - "The Lie/The Truth"

JAM

Comments

[keith hernandez]

uh, doesn't this have guitar in it? it's fucking sick, but i swear i hear gee-tar in there.

[lewsi clark]

this is some good shit. b-more, way to create something other than crack addicts

[licorice]

great poster. deacon is a beast (thats how we say in murderland)

[gone fishin]

i saw them at a bar in someones garage, speak easy style. they were pretty good, but were a little too outspoken about their love for sushi and asian women with round eyes

[ape tit]

baltimore was the first place i ever saw someone get shot, then kicked repeatedly.

[Scott]

Sounds Great Fellas. I miss Baltimore. Maybe I'll move back. We were just down there last month. It has changed much in 7 years but it is still Charm City.

[Bradford]

Nice! The chorus reminds me of something Hot Water Music would put on their first album.

[fuckstick]

Fuck yeah Double Dagger. Just saw these guys at the Zodiac and they were great. I like how the interviewer had to create a fuss about hyphens and genres to sneak in a jab at pitchfork. Very subtle.

[Andy Easy]

A freind made me go to a Double Dagger show on my 23rd birthday at the copycat building. I had no idea what to expect, they blew me away. Double D rocks!

[Aural States]

we're running a contest to win the new album here:

http://auralstates.com/2009/04/album-review-double-dagger-more-thrill-jockey.html

[generic viagra]

So I have been playing for around 6 months and been taking lessons, but still there are only a handful of songs I can play through. I know some like Purple Haze, but certain parts I just can't play yet, yet I can play through a number of Beatles and U2 songs easily. I also know parts of Crazy Train, Back In Black, and Iron Man. I am still working on being able to play all these songs through, but I was wondering what are some easier songs to expand my repertoire while I continue to work on these hard ones.

[generic viagra]

It's for people who write and read and care about Pitchfork and hyphens and genres or whatever.