THE DEXATEENS are four guys from Tuscaloosa, AL and this is their second album. On "Red Dust Rising" they combine early ROLLING STONES riffage with THE GEORGIA SATELLITES southern twang. Bits of tambourine, cowbell, lap steel, as well as an emphasis on vocal harmonies give it a genuine rootsy country-rock feel. There's some very strong material on offer here. The opener "Pine Belt Blues" is the kind of track RAGING SLAB would have been proud of, and you'd have to be a complete sourpuss to be unaffected by the lazy-yet-irresistible groove of songs like "Anna Lee", "Bitter Scene" and the title track. None of it is terribly loud, but it's THE DEXATEENS' sleaze factor that's the main attraction here.

My only point of criticism is that they put all the best songs at the beginning. While the second half of the album isn't exactly bad, personally I think here THE DEXATEENS' mellow suvvern sleaze does start to drag a bit. The drawn-out-too-long closer "Coal Mine Lung" in particular is a bit of an anticlimax. This doesn't make the album as a whole bad, but just so you know this isn't the next "Black & Blue". Or "Green River". Or "Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd". People less picky than me probably won't have a problem with that so feel free to ignore this comment. And anyway, THE DEXATEENS' sound is still a lot more raw and dirty than (let's say) THE BLACK CROWES and a hell of a lot more convincing than big budget hypes like KINGS OF LEON.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.dexateens.net

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Pistol Totin' Man

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