SHAZAM

Dead Meadow's unique marriage of Sabbath riffs, dreamy layers of guitar-fuzz bliss, and singer Jason Simon's high-pitched melodic croon have won over both psychedelic pop/rock and stoner rock fans alike. Although the band's members met while attending all-ages punk shows in and around Washington D.C.'s punk/indie scene, the trio's sound draws more of their sound from such classic rock legends as Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. The trio formed in the fall of 1998 out the ashes of local indie rock bands the Impossible Five and Coulour, with singer-guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin. The three members set out to fuse their love of early-'70s hard rock and '60s psychedelia with their love of fantasy and horror writers J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.

They released their six-song debut album in 1999 on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally's Tolotta Records and a joint vinyl release on D.C. indie label Planaria Records. In 2001, the band released its second and third albums, Howls from the Hills and Dead Meadow, on Tolotta Records. Within a reasonably short period, the D.C. trio received offers to tour with everyone from local D.C. hipsters the Make-Up to seedy psychedelic rockers Brian Jonestown Massacre; eventually, they landed the opening slot for high-profile indie veterans Guided by Voices. The group was also invited to record live for longtime cutting-edge British radio personality John Peel for BBC Radio One. Got Live If You Want It! arrived in 2002; that year, the band lost Laughlin and found a new drummer in Stephen McCarty. The band moved to Matador for 2003's breakthrough Shivering King and Others. Cory Shane joined the band in time for 2005's Feathers. Their fifth studio album, Old Growth, followed in 2007. In 2010, Dead Meadow released Three Kings, a live album and concert film in the tradition of The Song Remains the Same. ~ Rick Kutner, Rovi