If the Ramones played roots music, it might have sounded something like the Sadies, who visited the Geomatic Attic, Oct. 21 for a good sized crowd. I’m going to need a new set of ears as the Sadies 
tore them right off right from the start as they played several fleet fingered spaghetti western/ surf edged instrumentals that were so fast they were over almost before they began.
The first song with vocals, ‘Too Much Blood,’ was apt as their screen behind them was showing graphics that looked like blood stains.
The tall, gangly Good Brothers Dallas and Travis, dressed in western suits, looked like they stepped right out of an old western movie, played incendiary leads, drawing on everything from country to bluegrass but played them with punk intensity as they took turns singing lead and singing haunting harmonies.
Bassist Sean Dean stood back and grooved while drummer Mike Belitski, his arms a blur, looked like one of those toy, wind up drummer monkeys.
They played a blend of cou
ntry, roots, spaghetti western instrumentals and surf music played with punk energy right down to Travis Good glaring at either his guitar or his fiddle like he was possessed by the spirit of Johnny Ramone himself.
They played a lot of the music from their new CD ‘Internal Sounds,’ plus tracks mostly taken from their albums the ‘Darkest Circle’ and ‘New Seasons,’ plus a lot of surf infused instrumentals.
The soft spoken Dallas Good politely thanked the enraptured audience after each song. Dallas Good alternated between a couple of vintage Telecasters while his brother changed up between a pair of beautiful, battered Gretsch guitars when he wasn’t tearing the strings off the bow of his fiddle.
Perhaps because I was sitting in the front row being deafened by the drums, I couldn’t hear much of the stage banter, vocals or the song titles, but it was fantastic. They were concentrating on more recent releases particularly their hot new CD ‘Internal Sounds.’
In the second set, someone called out a request for an older song ‘Tell her Lies and Feed Her Candy,’ which they played after some discussion as Dallas grinned “If you had said ‘Free Bird,’ I would have come out there.”
They also played a couple of great old quick gospel songs including ‘Lay My Body Down,’ as well as ‘There is a Higher Power.’
— By Richard Amery, L.A Beat Editor
