“Dirge” is the first audio to be made public from Backwoods Payback‘s upcoming third album, Fire Not Reason. I’m not sure when the record is being released, but the timing coincides with what’s sure to be a landmark weekender the Pennsylvania/Virginia trio have coming up with Scissorfight and Gozu over the next couple nights, playing Brooklyn and Philly together after Backwoods also journey through the wilds of Wallingford, CT, to meet up with Buzzard Canyon and others at Cherry St. Station tonight. Either way, I’ll take what I can get when it comes to this band, and I think “Dirge” does a good job of showing why.

Like a lot of Fire Not Reason, which whenever it arrives will be half a decade removed from Backwoods Payback‘s last outing, 2011’s Momantha (review here), it offers an unexpected twist in method that, along with its kind of unassuming central melody, brings an air of the extreme to the proceedings. Some parts are more fire than reason, you might say. They’re not always tossing in screams throughout the record, but there are pieces that feel so honest and true to who and what the band is that every whim they follow seems to have a purpose in reinforcing that.

I hope to have more on Fire Not Reason and Backwoods Payback — now comprised of guitarist/vocalist Mike Cummings, bassist Jessica Baker and drummer Erik Larson (ex-Alabama Thunderpussy) — as we get closer to the release date. Stay tuned.

And enjoy:

Backwoods Payback, “Dirge” official video

From the 2016 Album, Fire Not Reason

Starting Line-Up: Jessica Baker, Mike Cummings, Erik Larson

Shot & Directed by John Keefer & Chris Johnson, Edited by Chris Johnson. A 51 DEEP production.

Backwoods Payback live:
-Thurs 7/28 w/ Buzzard Canyon, Dirt Wizard, & Pussywolf @ Cherry Street Station Wallingford, CT
-Fri 7/29 w/ Scissorfight, Gozu & Black Black Black @ Lucky 13 Brooklyn, NY (tickets)
-Sat 7/30 w/ Scissorfight, Gozu & Worth @ Kung Fu Necktie Philadelphia, PA (tickets)

Backwoods Payback on Thee Facebooks

Backwoods Payback on Bandcamp

51 Deep website

Tags: Backwoods Payback, Backwoods Payback Fire Not Reason, Fire Not Reason, Pennsylvania, West Chester

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 28th, 2016 at 10:43 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.