Murder by Death April 1, 2008

Indiana's Murder by Death layers the vocal sounds of an old saloon with the haunting strings of an Hungarian folk dance and the hard driving rhythms of pure rock n' roll, producing what Stuff magazine has called "lush, orchestrated songs," somehow simultaneously reminiscent of Johnny Cash and Radiohead. Equal parts appalachian ghost songs, civil-war-era gospel rave ups, and dilapidated punk vision, o'death's possessed hysteria brings new life to the exhausted modern country sound. Death-centric, yet uplifting, this band is invoking dead music in a modern context.