The Deadstring Brothers

Composed of four Detroit amigos and one amiga (harmony singer Marsha Marjieh, who is too good not to sing some lead), the Deadstring Brothers revive the comatose, quasi-country bar-band formula. They're probably sick of the Band and Stones circa Exile on Main Street comparisons, but the associations are inevitable given singer and songwriter Kurt Marschke's drawling, full-throated snarl (not to mention the jubilant rave-ups, an obsession with sinners and shadows, and slide guitar slipping into a thick Hammond-organ stereo mix). They're funky but not jammy, loud but not noisy, smart but not effete — hence they're anathema to indie fashion, which is all the more reason to catch their St. Louis debut.