We Are Night Sky starts pretty strong: "Stop, I'm Already Dead" is a dread-filled swamp stomp featuring Dax Riggs' southern rock delivery, Kurt Cobain squall, and muddy stop/start guitar riffs, as well as Tessie Brunet's rudimentary-as-primal drumbeats. The duo put their own stamp on the White Stripes two-person set-up, locating a slightly different power in a similarly messy minimalism, and that opener sets up some high expectations for deadboy and the Elephantmen's debut, not least of which is that there would be more than one Elephantman backing deadboy.
That tricky moniker aside, Riggs and Brunet thwart those raised expectations with the second track, "No Rainbow", a meandering, tune-deficient acoustic number featuring a tacked-on caterwauling coda. The song stalls the momentum out completely, and like a sputtering hot rod, We Are Night Sky takes a while to get revved and roaring again. But even when it's moving, there's always the threat that the album will stall out and leave you stranded.
On "How Long the Night Was", Riggs and Brunet pound a murky guitar riff into a rousingly anthemic chorus. Too bad it's in service of a song that consists mainly of Riggs repeating the line "If you were dreaming you know how long the night was." He's overly fond of such nocturnal motifs-- not really imagery, just empty declarations-- and lyrical repetitions based on blues song structures. But where most blues songs cap that repetition with another line to deepen or offset earlier lines, Riggs simply repeats his lyrics without resolving them. There's a potential power in those repetitions, but typically Riggs' proclamations are clunky and vague where they strive to be meaningful and evocative. On "Ancient Man", he sings, "I envy the night/ For its absence of light," but the statement is far too cryptic to be consequential.
After a rocky start, the album moves through some severe ups and downs: impressive highs amid oppressive lows. As a general rule, as the tempos pick up, so does the album, but whenever Riggs pulls out his acoustic and slows things down, We Are Night Sky coughs to a stop. "Blood Music" careens wildly, as if the brakes and steering have failed, and the thundering "Kissed by Lightning" and "Misadventures of Dope" are scalding swamp boogies with heavy-metal bluster reminiscent of Riggs's previous band, Acid Bath. Unfortunately, these tracks are interspersed with downtempo numbers like "Dressed in Smoke" and "Evil Friend" that trail off without much drama.
It's not that quieter moments would be unwelcome, but on We Are Night Sky, these songs sound particularly weak, implying that the duo haven't developed much beyond their hard-hitting riffage. With its lo-fi production, "Break It Off" has field-recording pretensions, but simply grates. "Walking Stick" at least showcases Brunet's ethereal voice, which nicely countervails Riggs' earthy, aggressive vocals, but the song is so whisper-slight that it dissipates like smoke even as you listen. Ultimately, it's enough to make you ditch the hot-rod and walk.
