Hearing an obscure, low-budget indie that you really enjoy can lead to mixed emotions. On the one hand, you're excited at the find. On the other, you have a sense of insecurity about sharing it with people because of all the glaring flaws--poor production, immature vocals, short length, whatever. Then there's the hesitancy to really dig it yourself, because you never know when or if they'll ever record a "real" album to satisfy your cravings. 

Enter LivingDead, a very unique, moody, female-fronted goth-grunge band. The raw material here thrills me like not much has in a while, but there is certainly enough lacking to make most listeners scoff. Jennifer Schwab has a very silky, sensuous voice that she's obviously still learning to use to full advantage. She explores creepy, L7-ish monotone chants, spoken word scripture-reading, and mellow  worship-crooning, but half the time she seems a little out of step with the music  or just plain off-key. That could all be cleaned up by a good producer prompting  repeated takes in the studio, and her voice is beautifully weird enough for one to  overlook the amateurish work. 

The band has a real garage sound, with scratch-fuzzy distortion moving subdued Nirvana riffs through subterranean caverns dug long ago by Black Sabbath and decorated by people dressed in black cloaks. Interesting, laidback picking parts waver in the air oddly at times like incense in an unfamiliar room. "The Gift" features some gorgeous wooden recorder, as Jennifer breathes "The gift of God is love everlasting" over a soothing bass, drum, and picked guitar foundation. The lyrics are melancholy treatments of direct scripture quotes, warnings against the devil, and worship of the Living God. They could do with some more imagination and creativity. 

Don't think this is a great album, because it's not. But if the potential for variety and spooky atmospherics could be harnessed by a good producer (or even just a bigger budget), LivingDead would definitely be something to scream about. 

Contact: LivingDead 
              PO Box 17062 
              Indianapolis, IN 46217 

By Josh Spencer