Send "Death " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Pairing R&B chops with scorching, Stooges-worthy bashing, Death's mid-1970s demos-- compiled and released by Drag City as For the Whole World to See-- lived up to every bit of their missing-link and lost-classic billing when they finally arrived, more than three decades late, in 2009. Spiritual, Mental, Physical-- a follow-up collection of grotty practice tapes and studio goofs culled from a set of tape reels recently unearthed in a Detroit basement-- is a bit less awe-inspiring.To be fair, For the Whole World to See set a high bar. By the time they hit the studio, Bobby, David, and Dannis Hackney-- a trio of Detroit-based, African-American brothers who temporarily set aside their Motown roots for steam-rolling proto-punk after checking out an Alice Cooper concert-- had their chops down pat. During their original, five-year lifespan, Death didn't make many waves. A self-released 7"-single, "Keep on Knocking" b/w "Politicians in My Eyes", was the group's only official release. It quickly faded into the record collector-ether. But listening now, the music sounds visionary-- a missing link between MC5 and the hardcore punk of the early 1980s. The songs are performed at blistering speed, burbling over with bad attitude. Death were not messing around. In just 27 minutes and seven songs, the trio made a potent argument for its place on punk's Mount Olympus. But Spiritual, Mental, Physical is the sound of the band figuring out its chops one freewheeling basement jam at a time. The takes are raw-- most of them recorded live to two-track tape in the band's practice space. They're loose and, frequently, unfocused. In a few instances, Death's brilliance is clearly evident. "Views", a choogling riff-rocker that kicks off the collection, wouldn't have sounded out of place on For the Whole World to See. "The Masks" explodes with heavy-metal thrashing, but quickly dials back the fury for a verse lifted directly from the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life". The song's main trick-- leap-frogging back and forth between mellow melodies and full-bore grind-- is one that the band would put to more polished use on songs like "Let the World Turn" and "Politicians in My Eyes", from the For the Whole World to See sessions....full text |
| Ventvox |
| “Spiritual, Mental, Physical” is an odds and sods collection of demos by Death, the proto-punk band circa 1974-1976. The material presented here was transferred from old reel-to-reel tapes and the primitive sound enhances what could be the findings from an architectural dig. There are traces of what would become the band’s sole output, “For The Whole World To See,” but this collection oftentimes finds the band noodling around in much of the later content. “Spiritual, Mental, Physical” finds the band trading in jagged punk, “Views” amongst Beatles inflected rock and roll on “The Mask.” On the soulful, “The Change,” there are some pensive Shuggie Otis-like guitar licks that are worth checking out. The jangly “World of Tomorrow” is a brief glimpse of the straightforward style of rock that the Hackney Brothers were capable of. “Can You Give Me A Thrill” might be the longest punk song ever recorded but also signals a stop to the actual listenable songs on this set. The remaining songs fall apart under their own weight and oftentimes sound amateurish akin to a band farting around in a guitar shop. “Spiritual, Mental, Physical” is an interesting curio and signals what could have been. It’s worth a listen if you’re a fan and was wondering about the Hackney Brother’s creative process....full text |
| Spin |
| When Death's 1974 demos, …For the Whole World to See, were finally excavated in 2009, they proved the missing link between the Stooges' "No Fun" and Bad Brains' "Pay to Cum." Ultimately, the three Hackney brothers turned from furious garage-punk to mellow reggae, wholly forgotten by history. Dug up from the basement of a defunct Detroit studio, this set of hissy practice tapes varies greatly in quality with the demented trashing of a Beatles melody on "The Masks" and the snotty sneer of "Can You Give Me a Thrill???" abutting stoned instrumentals and solo noodling....full text |
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