Pierced Arrows (ex-Dead Moon) Return!

Sophomore album due in February from VICE.

By Blurt Staff

Pierced Arrows, the Portland-based trio featuring Fred and Toody Cole of the seminal punk band Dead Moon have announced their signing to VICE Records for the release of their sophomore LP Descending Shadows on February 2nd.  It's the followup to their 2008 debut Straight To the Heart (reviewed at BLURT here).
 
 
Descending Shadows expands on their fervently rough signature sound, recorded at Portland's Buzz or Howl Studios and mastered to vinyl lacquer per tradition at Fred and Toody's home.  Promising to herald a new generation of fans steeped in the progeny which Dead Moon influenced, Descending Shadows will provide longtime followers of the Cole's work with a new vital installment of what Fred once described as "rock'n'roll that's rough, ragged, and honest", a sincere answer to the void of emotion lacking in today's era.
 
 
During their defiant career, Dead Moon released a staggering 16 albums.  Many of which were engineered and mastered direct to vinyl lacquers by Fred Cole on his 40-year old home lathe, the likes of which being infamous for cutting the original version of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie".  Since the late 1960s Fred and Toody also ran seminal music equipment stores and their own general store in their hometown of Clackamas, OR (Freedom Guitar, Captain Whizeagles, Tombstone Music), well known for outfitting generations of Portland musicians.  Influencing many garage punk bands, Dead Moon are cited as a vital inspiration for the DIY movement, Dead Moon in part spawned an international phenomenon of focus on the Pacific Northwest music scene throughout the 90's.
 
 
Following the disbandment of Dead Moon in 2006, Fred and Toody continued their endeavors, eventually tapping veteran Portland-based Kelly Halliburton (Severed Head of State, Defiance) to play drums for their next incarnation as Pierced Arrows.  Coincidentally, Kelly's father happened to play with Fred in his first band Albatross in 1972.  In line with Fred and Toody's ethical and cultural ideals, Kelly's role in the band was set. Debut Straight To The Heart  was released on Tombstone Records, echoing the raw murky blues and country influence of Dead Moon as well as their first punk incarnation in the early 1980s as The Rats, the veterans (now in their 50's) continued their tradition of powerful raucous live performances, touring heavily through the US and Europe for legions of Dead Moon fans eager to revisit the band's new direction.

Stream "Paranoia" from Descending Shadows HERE.

[Photo Credit: Simone Muller]