Kevin Bronson on March 11th, 2015

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Longtime followers of L.A. garage-rockers the Dead Ships might find some irony in a song titled “Big Quiet” — the trio of singer-guitarist Devlin McCluskey, drummer Christopher Spindelilus and bassist Alex Moore are to quietude what a Triple Whopper is to a healthy diet. But the Dead Ships’ earplugs-recommended scuzz gets a makeover on this new song, a jangling, driving rocker that’s more Strokes and less White Stripes and represents a departure from last fall’s single “Canyon.” “Big Quiet” is from their forthcoming “EP 1” (due May 5), which was produced by Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning, who took an interest in the band after seeing them at a Canadian showcase.

McCluskey explains that he wrote the song after losing a friend to suicide: “When I came home from the funeral, I read an article about scientists observing a rare solar state called a big quiet, and for a moment it felt as if the entire universe was sitting shiva. “Big Quiet” was my first attempt at writing something to understand what happened and try to retroactively stop it from occurring. … I know I can’t write a song that would’ve saved my best friend … but that’s not going to stop me from trying.” It sparked a spate of creativity during which, McCluskey says, “I stopped drinking and partying and just started writing every day. A lot of these songs deal with struggles to feel like a better human being and reacquaint yourself with reality.” Getting a chance to work with Canning, too, added some sobriety to McCluskey’s work. “For a long time, we were the assholes who prided themselves on playing louder than anyone else,” he says. “Getting to work with Brendan Canning on your guitar-driven indie rock is like getting to work with Barry Bonds on your steroid regimen (allegedly).”

||| Stream: “Big Quiet”

||| Previously: “Canyon,” “Golden Room,” “You Were Young”

Photo by Robin Laananen