Dan Sartain - Too Tough to Live

by Daniel Cressey

published: 28 / 1 / 2012

Label: One Little Indian
Format: CD

intro

Infectious lo-fi mini-album from Birmingham, Alabama-based singer-songwriter Dan Sartain, which merges late 50's rock 'n' roll with a punk edge

Dan Sartain has always been an angry man. Previous releases have polished this anger, and presented him as a retro rock and roller of the first order. With his latest album he has shredded the polish and taken things back to basics, marrying his late-50s vibe with a punk edge It's not entirely clear how the legend 'Fuck Music!' on the album art is meant to be taken. It seems slightly unlikely that an album this aggressively raw could replace Barry White as amorous backgrounding. It could be that the body of things that have pissed off Mr Sartain has grown to encompass music in general. But the carefully channelled rage found on 'Too Tough To Live' is generally absent that kind of bitterness. True, there are moments such as 'Fuck Friday', which consists of one and half minutes of “Fuck Friday” and “I don't want to do what you want me to.” But Sartain's rocking anger seems rooted more in superiority than anything else. Witness the glorious 'Even At My Worst I'm Better Than You'. Sartain – and many listeners – probably should be too old for this teenage angst. But he is undeniably capable of turning out a brilliantly tight thrash of noise. The lo-fi approach on this release is simply too infectious to ignore, and covers many sins. Perhaps the best way to read that legend it to consider that Sartain has taken music and had his way with it. Although 'Too Tough to Love ' may be more grit than slick, Sartain continues to produce some of the finest rock going.

Track Listing:-

1 Nam Vet
2 Now Now Now
3 I Wanna Join the Army
4 I'm Aware
5 Rona
6 Swap Meet
7 Boo Hoo Hoo
8 Indian Massacre
9 Fuck Friday
10 I Got Insurance
11 I Can't Go Home Now
12 Even At My Worst I'm Better Than You
13 In Death

Band Links:-

http://dansartain.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DanSartainOfficial
https://www.youtube.com/user/DanSartainOfficial
https://plus.google.com/+DanSartainOfficial
https://www.songkick.com/artists/545264-dan-sartain

Label Links:-

http://www.indian.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/olirecords
https://twitter.com/olirecords
http://www.songkick.com/users/onelittleindian
https://www.youtube.com/user/onelittleindian
https://plus.google.com/+OneLittleIndianRecords

interviews

Interview (2007)

Dan Sartain has been receiving a lot of acclaim for his brand of garage blues/punk rock. Mark Rowland chats to the Alabama-based singer-songwriter, who has recently signed to One Little Indian, about his recording career to date, and his dissatisfaction the current music scene

live reviews

100 Club, London, 7/2/2007

Dan Cressey finds acclaimed Alabama-based singer-songwriter Dan Sartain to be like a reincarnated Bill Haley in a fantastic show at the 100 Club in London