Dragged by Horses
Press
"Deep in the Woods" - Tiny Mixed Tapes
June 11, 2008
Dragged By Horses mimic the power and depth of ragers like Shellac, undercut by a current of the drumnastics of bands like Don Caballero and The Ladies. That’s a good thing.
"Deep in the Woods" - Pitchfork
May 15, 2008
Dragged by Horses are a three-piece out of Humboldt County, Calif., far to the north of the state. At the county's southernmost point, it's still 225 miles from San Francisco, and much of the area could safely be called rural-- not much to speak of but a couple of colleges, strong weed, and a bunch of giant redwoods. The band's heaviness is just as elemental and matter-of-fact as their forest surroundings, but their sound is a little more nervous, and nods further south: to San Diego, home of Drive Like Jehu, who are clearly a compass point for this young band. They don't share the complex riffs and odd time signatures of DLJ, but they have the tone down, and are heavy without resorting to any raucous distortion, double bass-drum attacks, or quiet-to-loud; theirs is a much more subtle style of bludgeoning. More than that, without the use of laid-back surfer signifiers or sweetened Beach Boy-styled harmonies, they still manage to represent their zip code... "Deep in the Woods" has an enticing sound with a few great tracks.
"Deep In The Woods" - Itune review
May 1, 2008
Dragged by Horses is a power trio in the late-'60s blues-rock tradition, which makes it appropriate that the band's second album, Deep in the Woods, is being issued as an LP (on red vinyl) with an accompanying CD that duplicates the contents. There is a certain relentless musical logic to the guitar/bass/drums power trio that can lend to a certain sameness and similarity, particularly if, like Dragged by Horses, the sound is essentially riff-based rather than being (as in, say, the cases of the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble) a showcase for a guitar virtuoso backed by a rhythm section. Dragged by Horses is much more Blue Cheer than Hendrix, basing its songs on interlocking riffs with shouted vocals from the somewhat enraged-sounding guitarist, Pablo Midence. Indeed, to cite another power trio (albeit one that features a separate vocalist), it's easy to think of Rage Against the Machine as Midence chants repeatedly, with growing anger, "May your death be a peaceful one" during "Peaceful Endings." This is head-banging music in the classic manner
