Dead Man's Bones: Dead Man's Bones
The folky duo's eponymous debut at times features gloomy themes and eerie tremors, but most of the time sounds completely unique and exhilarating
Dead Mans Bones is a folky, morbid duo composed of actor Ryan Gosling and his friend Zach Shields. The pair — who met while Gosling was going out with his The Notebook co-star Rachel McAdams, and Shields was dating McAdams sister, Kayleen — set out to make a nonprofessional album where they played nearly all of the instruments and were backed by a Los Angeles childrens choir. Their resulting, eponymous debut at times features gloomy themes and eerie tremors similar to a Nick Cave album, but most of the time sounds completely unique and exhilarating. Prominently featuring cello and piano, the work builds slowly, peaking for the first time on “Buried in Water,” and then again later on “Pa Pa Power” — both of which feature the kids at their most angelic and sinister. Goslings and Shields own voices arent particularly distinctive, but they dont have to be, as the music has its own surging, dark power. (Anti-) 4 out of 5 stars.