Deadline Friday 
Wear Yourself Worn 
by Chuck Schiele 



Here's a great bunch of tunes that collectively straddles a fine line between the AOR rock moves and motifs (? la the '70s) and the baby steps of a new thing altogether - along the lines of the jam-band idea. The guitars kick ass the way guitar players like 'em. The vocals are also very strong; three of the members sing very capable leads, which in turn leads to some very tasty harmonies. And it boogies in a way that has 'deadheads' dancing with white-collar babes when you're out at the clubs. They're a serious band with a casual way of making it all sound like it's happening for the first time. And that's fun.

Bill Coomes plays drums and sings. Jim Diez plays guitar and sings. Mike Spurgat plays guitar and sings. Claudio Gutierrez plays percussion, while Earl Schreyer keeps things down on bass. There's a short list of sit-ins, most notably the keyboard contributions by Dave Yaden. Each is a fine player on his own responsibility, but the thing they do right on this record is play together, weaving their way through stops, runs, and lots of music details. Naturally, this is self-produced with the enlistment of engineer Jeff Forrest at Doubletime Studios. 

Jealousy is a great classic rocker at heart, possessing one of the better lyrics and catchiest vocals along the way. Great sounding guitar solo! Meet Me on the Road also owns a great vocal line and lyric but expresses itself as an acoustic ballad and also has one very beautiful arrangement that includes mandolin. My favorite two tunes.

Deadline Friday has a big sound - great sounding guitars blending through classic gritty warm tones, big bold eagle-esque vocals, and a rhythm section that evokes the arena more than the bar down the street. 

Nogales is a great example of a band enjoying a cold sweaty beer on a hot sweaty stage in a big sweaty jam. As an instrumental, my guess is that it was probably written 'round 4 a.m., right about the time everyone was a little too buzzed to sing, which is oftentimes when the best jams begin. There's some pretty cool magic in this tune. Angel wraps the CD up nicely in a three-part vocally driven lullaby supported by one pretty (but not at all wimpy or corny) fingerpicked acoustic guitar.

You'll find out all you need to know at deadlinefriday.com
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Finally the album is here, and it was worth the wait!  Overall a great piece of work.  Fans of the band will surely recognize some songs from their live performances such as Sweet Breathin Thing, Jesse James, Meet Me on the Road and Nogales.  Whoever engineered the sound of the guitar on most of the solos hit the nail right on the head.  It sounds excellent!  I liked the rustic design of the cd and sleeve as well.  The only knocks I have, (and this is nit-picking), are the snare drum is hard to distinguish in certain songs (Sweet Breathin Thing, etc), and I didn't care for the sustained mandolin parts in Meet Me on the Road.  Other than that, great job guys!  What up PB!
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