The story behind Death is just as compelling as the music. Three young black kids, the Hackney brothers, started a band on the east side of Detroit in the early 70s. But instead of going down the familiar Motown route of their peers, they chose the OTHER sound of Detroit- the garage-punk of bands like The Stooges and The MC5. They wrote a bunch of fast, short songs full of hooks and played them loud. After getting signed and recording a record, they refused the label’s demand to change their name and were quickly dropped, so they took their advance money and self-released one single, “Politicians In My Eyes” b/w “Keep on Knocking”. The single went nowhere, and the band eventually broke up. Not long after, the Hackney brothers moved to Burlington, Vermont to live with relatives. They continue to make music: first as gospel band The 4th Movement, and later reggae band Lambsbread after guitarist David moved back to Detroit. Bassist Bobby and drummer Dannis put down roots in Vermont and raised families, and Lambsbread is still active today on the New England college circuit.
That’s where the story ended, until a couple years ago. Bobby’s three sons heard the Death single, and saw it selling for $800 on eBay. So Bobby dug the old master tapes out of his attic and eventually released them as …For All The World To See (Drag City, 2009). The album is startling in its power and substance. They were so far ahead of their time that they fit right in thirty-five years later. Death deserves to be recognized alongside contemporaries MC5, Iggy and the Stooges and The New York Dolls as an essential pre-cursor to punk rock.
Bobby’s sons were captivated by the music and formed a band to play the songs of Death, calling it Rough Francis. …For All The World To See was a critical success, and Death reformed to play a handful of shows with Lambsbread guitarist Bobby Duncan filling in on guitar. Sadly, David Hackney passed away in 2000.
Anticipation was high for the first ever Death show in Vermont. “The story of Death is the story of two cities- Detroit and Burlington”, said Bobby between songs, which is why Burlington was lucky enough to be one of the few cities to witness Death live. A large camera crane from a documentary film crew loomed over the band as they breathed life into all the old songs. “Freakin’ Out”, “Rock n Roll Victim” and “You’re A Prisoner” sounded as good as the original recordings, if a little cleaner in tone. “Politicians In My Eyes“ and “Keep On Knocking” were urgent and rocking. My only complaint is that they kept bringing out the Lambsbread keyboardist and conga player to play reggae songs in between Death songs. The two styles are irreconcilable to my ears. I would have much rather seen separate Death and Lambsbread sets, or even no Lambsbread at all.
For anyone anxious to hear more Death or see them play, they made two announcements that will be music to your ears: there is another record of unreleased Death material coming out in January, and west coast live dates are in the works.
Rough Francis warmed up the crowd, as they have for all the Death shows. I wondered if the two bands were going to be playing the same material, but Rough Francis didn’t play any of their old man’s songs (at least none that have been released). They did play a bunch of high-energy originals, and bookended the set with a pair of covers that gave a nod to their forebears: opening with “1970” by The Stooges and closing with MC5’s “Kick out The Jams”.
