OAs long as I have known the band Playing Dead, I have never had the opportunity to see them play live until recently at O’Brien’s in Coram. The band has been around for a few years and they have gone through different line up changes, and since then their sound has grown. The band has an Indie Rock sound that reminds me of Pavement with elements of Superchunk, The Afghan Whigs, and I will even dare to say, a little bit of Sunny Day Real Estate. This is a sound that I rarely get to hear these days on a local level, so it is refreshing to hear a band such as Playing Dead maintain it.

The band has just released a new EP called “Forever Night,” which takes them in a newer direction from their last release, “Autopsy.” They no longer have a keyboard player, so the sound to me has become raw. The band consists of Sam H (vocals, guitar), Dave C (bass), Stevie D (drums, backing vocals) and Sean O (guitar ,backing vocals). The venue is actually a bar/restaurant so there was no actual stage. The band played in a section on the floor and was still able to do their thing – and a pretty good job of it! The band pretty much played songs off of “Forever Night”, opening with “House Of Cards”. They also played “Numb“ and a few other songs from the new CD, and an older one as well.

They have a unique energy and stage presence about them. Sam moves around while playing his guitar singing into the mic, while Sean plays his guitar like a madman. Steve hammers away at the drums while Dave just stands there relaxed as his hands move about the bass. I noticed that the band makes up for keyboard parts with Sean’s foot peddle settings. He was able to make his guitar imitate the sound of a keyboard, which I thought was pretty cool, and definitely added to the set and sound of the band. I loved watching Sean and Sam feed off each other. There was one point in the set where they did this dueling guitar move where they would move close to each other with guitars in hand as if they were battling with swords; it was fun to watch. Playing Dead showed me that they enjoy playing on stage in front of people. All of the members were into what they were doing and looked like they knew what they were doing. The crowd seemed to be getting into it, which is always important. If you are looking for something different in a rock band, or want to see a good live show, check these guys out and listen to the songs from “Forever Night”. You can also check out the band’s My Space page for music and show dates at:

www.myspace.com/playingdead