Sometimes Drunk, Always Fucked Up Frankie & The Deadbeats

• 1 A Merciful Lie 03:51
• 2 Run Run Run 02:54
• 3 Dance With Me 03:35
• 4 Not Easy To Be Found 05:06
• 5 River 03:08
• 6 Dirty Roads 03:33
• 7 Safe and Sound 02:55
• 8 Bittersweet 03:14
• 9 Things To Forget 03:56
• Total Runtime 32:12

Info for Sometimes Drunk, Always Fucked Up

Country music is often assumed to pander exclusively to America’s poor and rural white folks and Southerners, a stereotype that belies the much broader appeal of its storytelling, melodic immediacy, and tradition steeped timbre. It’s true—the output of Nashville’s hit factory may cater to a narrower demographic, but artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and George Jones managed to craft timeless songs that touched upon universal hardships and resonated with a broad swath of music fans. So while a pedal steel and a twangy guitar might conjure images of the American west, there is also something in that combination of sounds that can stir the hearts of people across the world. And for five wild punks of Prague’s Frankie & the Deadbeats, that dusty bucolic sound was the perfect vehicle for their outlaw escapades. On their debut album The Shining, Frankie & the Deadbeats pay homage to American country music while filtering it through the distinctive lens of Slavic fatalism and Bohemian artistry. The album opens with “Deadbeat Waltz,” a Morricone-tinged instrumental of sorrowful slide guitar and minor key chord progressions. This ain’t no honky-tonk; this is Cormac McCarthy’s sepia-toned sunsets set to music. When the album moves on to “Once Upon a Time,” vocalist Frankie Knuth steps into the limelight, singing “once upon a time, you were crucified,” in an accent-inflected baritone. The effect is reminiscent of the musical choices of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks—an ominous juxtaposition of camp theatrics and a dark spin on pop-culture nostalgia.

That tightrope walk between reverence and kitsch continues across the span of The Shining. Songs like “Let it Rain” and “In the Middle” almost conjure the fire-and-brimstone liturgies of Nick Cave or Sixteen Horsepower, but there’s also something in their sound that implies a wink and a smirk, something that seems to say “yeah, we’re all wearing costumes… even our heroes… and we’re not afraid to call it out.” That sardonic edge adds an extra dimension to their music, one that downplays the gravity of their mournful melodies while highlighting the charisma of these misfits and miscreants. Whether you’re a sucker for the charms of the upbeat two-step or the forlorn down-and-out ballad, there’s undoubtedly something on The Shining that touches upon your preferences for old-timey Americana. But in the hands of these mischievous Frankie & the Deadbeats, the yesteryear sound is less of a trip down memory lane and more of a sly subversion of that sound’s supposed innocence.

Frankie & The Deadbeats:
Frankie Knuth, vocals, acoustic guitar
Štefi Kouba, bass
Miller Harrison, pedal steel guitar, dobro
Kuba Siňor, electric guitar
Martin OG Slezák, drums
Guests:
Matěj Vašků, bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) Ondřej „Krleesh“ Lukeš, bass (track 2), acoustic guitar (track 2), backing vocals (track 2)
Vojtěch „Woody“ Troják, backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8)
Josef „Stoláč“ Stolárik, backing vocals (tracks 4, 6)
Bořivoj Škorpil, harmonica (tracks 1, 8)

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Amak at Golden Hive studios
Produced by Kuba Siňor and Amak

Frankie & The Deadbeats
Nomads with roots both in the Czech countryside and streets of Nashville, Frankie & The Deadbeats skilfully combine dark alt-country and americana with mood of David Lynch movies and the wildness of their hearts. Stories that are imprinted on their souls, like the wrinkles on their faces, are conveyed with the help of dark songs to the listeners, who will embrace them and never let go.

The band first appeared on the scene in 2021 with their first record “The Shining”. Exactly two years later, they released their second full album called “The Possibility That Love Is Not Enough”. The addition of banjo, trumpet, piano, and other elements push their approach to country music a step further. The album captures stories that take place in the real world, in the dreams of urban cowboys or even somewhere between heaven and earth.

From seedy bars through leading Czech festivals to two acoustic tours in the USA, Frankie & The Deadbeats are at home wherever their travels take them and anyway a wistful pedal steel guitar wails in the distance.

This album contains no booklet.