When Southern rock's done right, it's an amazing thing that'll get you hugging strangers and spilling drinks as you sing lyrics to songs you don't even know the words to. When wrong, it can make even the free-est of drinks not even worth the struggle of hearing another awful rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama” by some balding insurance salesman desperately hanging on to a long gone dream of rock stardom.
Luckily, Tampa four-piece Live Forever does it right.
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Their small, but varied assortment of joyous barroom-rock takes notes from a book of acts ranging from J. Roddy Walston & The Business to Deer Tick and The Hold Steady. When they're not working day jobs, they divvy their time between writing and recording one-offs at singer/guitarist Dan Sells' home studio and intermittently taking the stage (or, ground) at low key Tampa Bay area venues like the Venture Compound, Sake Bomb, and Crowbar.
Their latest track, "The Dog, the Drink and the Back Door," is a fast-drive onslaught of squealing guitars, crushing drums (at the hand of Andrew W.K. drummer Rich Russo), and strained Southern melody that'd be right at home beneath the hazy bar light of wherever they're venturing next. Give it a listen below and hear more Live Forever on their Soundcloud page.
