Song Of The Day 5/20/2016: Deadbolt – “Truck Drivin’ S.O.B.” + “The Mocker”

To Trucker With Love – My favorite San Diego musical artists (sorry Jason Mraz) are Deadbolt, also known as "The Scariest Band In the World." You've heard me go on about them before. They make minor key surf music in which terrible things happen to unsuspecting dolts, the majority of whom probably deserve it. Although I'm pretty sure they read music criticism about as much as I read the book of Leviticus, what's special about Deadbolt is that they're album-based artists. Each album is united by a central image or theme to tie together all the bloodstains and aberrant behavior. And they research their stuff too. Zulu Death Mask contains elements of the African occult, Hobo Babylon rides evil rails, and Tijuana Hit Squad is self-explanatory. The title track of that last one contains one of my all-time favorite refrains: "He was there, you don't need to know/Don’t question me or I'll kill you right now." That was the first dance song at my wedding, at least in the version I'm adapting for the screen.

Voodoo Trucker tackled the travails of the hardened exteriors who man 18-wheel death machines to keep the ventilation circulating through Walmart's pockets. It's got two songs I feel are worthy of inclusion here. "Truck Driving S.O.B." is a corrupt take on Dave Dudley's "Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun." The narrator takes on an artsy SUV, a folk festival attendee and a gaggle of shuttle bus drivers. "The Mocker," again, is self-explanatory. ("'The Mocker', again, is self-explanatory.")