Dead Letter Circus – ‘Here We Divide’

Dead Letter Circus – ‘Here We Divide’

Dead Letter Circus are a textbook example of how to do the rock band thing.

1. Rehearse until you are sure you won’t embarrass yourself in public.
2. Start playing phenomenally awesome local shows, build following through said shows.
3. Repeat ad nauseum in arenas, pubs, festivals and dives all around the country.
4. Get airplay on JJJ, support every other band in your genre until you overtake them in popularity.
5. Keep releasing singles to keep your loyal fans happy.
6. Sign a deal with a major label after having done all the hard work off your own back for years.
7. Profit (???) using internet-driven and value added packages (???)

When I was 17, my much-older boyfriend at the time used to sneak me into dive bars all around Brisbane to watch his band play. It was during this bit of my life that I saw Dead Letter Circus’ second show ever, then their fifth, then their tenth, and how the punters kept coming back and bringing their friends. It was exciting to be around, and so were the songs; their debut EP  (released in 2007) was stellar.

A few years on and the excitement of the music has waned a bit, although to be fair it must be hard to work around Rob Maric’s distinctive guitar style and tone. If you loved DLC before, you’ll like this; and you’ll probably sign up to Project Dead Letter, the paid-access members only website with behind-the-scenes footage of the making of their debut album This Is The Warning and MP3s of new material.

Good on ’em.

www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus