Reviews for South Side Of The Moon...

The Cutting Edge

Charlotte's outlaw gentleman (and ex-Antiseen roadie) Gideon Smith returns with his band the Dixie Damned, for their second opus in seven years. The man is indeed the real deal and with the sledgehammer rain dance of "Save A Dollar For The Dead" and the grinding biker beater "Way of the Outlaw," Gid continues to embrace his Jim Morrison/Elvis persona. His voice creeps out of the grave and breathes dusty life into all 13 tracks that mix Goth, Country, Doom, Blues, Psychedelic and the occasional Native American flare into a fine ground pile of southern blend. Straight-ahead rockers "Indian Larry," "Magic Queen" and "Blacklight Wizard Poster" still echo early Cult but with a razors edge that slices through and pretension and goes straight for legitimate originality. Structurally the songs never feel boxed in or trapped by genre tags, so the desert ballad "Daughter Of The Moon" sits easily next to the delta blues "Black Cat Road". Just follow the bass and drum. That same self-assured rhythm section is the fuel behind "The Wolf Will Survive." While the guitar finds a dirty grease rocker grove that burst into a high-octane solo, all the while the backend just keeps coming. A secession of ballads fill up the middle of the disc in what would usually be an unwanted lull, yet for Gideon it proves to be a reflective aura of smoke-filled meditation. "Shimmering Rain" builds on a tasteful acoustic backdrop with reverberating electric feedback while "Lay Me Down In Ecstasy" follows with more of a country desert vibe like a deep track from the Doors back catalog. Personally this is one of those lyrically emotional tracks as the writer reflects on his life. The guitar tone gravitates toward psychobilly in the darker Cash-like "My Darling Black Rose." Then "Feather’s Shadow" takes it one step further bringing in a fat riff and haunting Hammond obviously validating the Cult reference. "Devil's Night" sits towards the end and is the most doom-filled attack Gideon tracks here. Dark and sludgy, it smells of swamp water and reefer bowl, but feels so right coming out of the speaker at full volume. - Todd K Smith
April, 2008 Issue #65
www.cuttingedgerocks.com

Creative Loafing

The Deal: With various recordings under his belt and having just finished up writing his first book, the reclusive Gid returns to his first love, which is recording – in this case, another full-lengther. Would be easy describing this as a heavy rock/metal effort but it's more. If Antiseen's music is Cancerpunk, then this close relation could be Roadkill Rock, with its emphasis on driving ("Indian Larry," "Black Cat Road"), Southern feistiness, righteousness and plain orneriness with a black-light, trippy overlay. The Good: Love the high energy levels here. There's a high-octane cameo on, of all things, washboard, by Antiseen's Jeff Clayton, which makes "Black Cat Road" the superlative cut – the washboard creating a more Louisiana, swamp dog appeal. Other songs have a more old-fashioned, down-home, Led-Zep-meets-Lynyrd-Skynyrd vibe, with, Stevie-Ray-Vaughan-ish, moonshine slide guitar and industrial strength drumbeats. The Bad: Gid attempts tranquil, shimmering arrangements on a few numbers, which don't play to his strengths. If you want the gargling with glass vocals, stick to the up-tempo majority, though some may like the more silent minority. The Verdict: After a long layoff, health problems and personal problems resulting from the death of his drummer a number of years ago, Gid survives the pain, gathers his energy and delivers the goods. Way better than expected, it's the perfect antidote for your music snob friends. And just where does he get that sub-sonic, hellhound of a voice? -Lew Herman
April 16th, 2008
charlotte.creativeloafing.com

Sleazegrinder

As the punny title would suggest, South Side of the Moon is much more tongue in cheek-y than previous Dixie Damned discs ("Blacklight wizard poster/ Freaking me out!"). It's like Angel II: Avenging Angel. You know, a wry satire on the genre it helped create. That's not to say that it won't roll over your skull like a tank, because it most certainly does; buzzing stoner-punk crushers like "Save a Dollar for the Dead" and "Devil's Night" offer prime gonzola, and nuzzle comfortably next to narcotic deathjams like the woozy "Magic Queen". I'm just suggesting ol' Gid is having fun with this one, flipping through old copies of Creepy and Outlaw Biker while he plays his BOC and MC5 8 tracks on an endless loop. It's an homage and a send-up and a big, greasy, gorgeous slop-bucket full of deep, rumbling Man-Rock. -Sleazegrinder
April, 2008
www.sleazegrinder.com

Hellride Music

I put it to you that you cannot understand Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned without understanding Gideon Smith himself. I’ve never met him face to face, but he is by all accounts an amazing individual. If you want to check that out – and I suggest that you do – get on a search engine for books and snag a copy of his self-published volume, ‘Way of the Outlaw Spirit.’ Without denigrating the book, I’d say that it needed a grammatical editor, but throughout its pages it is still clear that Gid is a man of wisdom, a practitioner of the martial arts, a mystic of sorts, and a rocker who walks the walk, irregardless of material gain. If that’s not enough, surf the net until you come up with his legendary interview with Hellridemeister Chris Barnes from a few years ago, when the Dixie Damned’s first long player, ‘Southern Gentlemen,’ was released. That’ll clench it. As a matter of fact, “southern gentleman” is a good phrase to describe him. After all, how many people that you’ve never met before actually e-mail you, just to see how you’re doing, not wanting anything? That’s Gid. He’s an outlaw who cleaves to his own rules, yet he is as far from a criminal as you can get, and that’s an important distinction. Like many southerners, he believes that rock came from the south, and that its spirit abides there. The listener will immediately recognize that as hard and metal as this release may be, there’s no doubt that it’s form the south – Charlotte, North Carolina to be exact. Yes, you’ve heard something like this before, but it’s none the worse for that. The album is rich in classic blues-soaked riffs, power chords, and slide guitar aplenty, not to mention the occasional laid-back ballad. Gideon’s distinctive Elvis-meets-Danzig vibrato soars above all the Sabbath-meets-Skynyrd tuneage, and it is good. Lovers of old Alabama Thunderpussy, Dixie Witch, Throttlerod, and Halfway to Gone take note. This is prime hard rocking from south of the Mason/Dixon line. The Dixie Damned perform tightly yet organically, spot-on and creative. Special props to the mighty Phil Durr, ex-Big Chief, for remarkable performances on bass and guitar. So if you want to belly up to something familiar yet fresh, break out your chain wallet for some crazed dudes who somehow manage to be southern gentlemen, both on and off the record. - Kevin McHugh
March 24th, 2008
www.hellridemusic.com

StonerRock.com

Those familiar with former Antiseen roadie Gideon Smith's work with the Dixie Damned will rejoice to know that his second full-length has finally been released. Given that it's been seven years since his debut, Southern Gentlemen, I'm guessing that's an unfortunately small crowd of people. That's a shame, because when Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned are on the ball, they're one of the better (genuine) southern rock bands out there. South Side of the Moon doesn't introduce anything new to the genre (except maybe a tribute to a "Blacklight Wizard Poster," a cautionary tale about drugs and bad interior decorating choices) but that's besides the point. To me, this is comfort music, like a well worn pair of jeans or a pair of boots that have finally been broken in. The thunderous rock of "Indian Larry" and "Save a Dollar for the Dead," the boogie shuffle of "Black Cat Road," and the doomy psychedlia of "Magic Queen," "Devil's Night," and "The Wolf Will Survive," with Smith's Elvis by way of Danzig by way of Pete Steele croon leading the charge throughout, hits all the right spots, even if said spots are well-worn in a couple of places. What I could've done without are the troubadour-like ballads. I've got no problem with 'em in general, but South Side of the Moon has at least one too many. Subtract them from the equation and you still have at least ten solid tracks of quality southern rock. Fans of fellow Small Stone bands Dixie Witch, Five Horse Johnson, The Glasspack, and Halfway to Gone/ A Thousand Knives of Fire take notice.
March 1st, 2008
www.stonerrock.com

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1. Indian Larry
2. Blacklight Wizard Poster
3. Save A Dollar For The Dead
4. Daughter Of The Moon
5. Black Cat Road
6. Feather's Shadow
7. My Darling Black Rose
8. Magic Queen
9. Shimmering Rain
10. Lay Me Down In Ecstasy
11. Devil's Night
12. Way Of The Outlaw
13. The Wolf Will Survive