Song of the Day: Bear Ceuse - Dixie Brothers

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured during the 2013 Fall Fundraising Drive, is “Dixie Brothers” by Bear Ceuse from the 2013 album Don Domestique on Medical Records.

Bear Ceuse - Dixie Brothers (MP3)

Named for a play on the rough translation of the French word for lullaby, Bear Ceuse's music isn't particularly soothing or European; instead, it's a rollicking brand of Midwestern-meets-New York indie rock. Led by singer/guitarist Cameron Matthews, the New York four-piece began writing together in 2011, setting up a local presence in Brookyln before recording their debut full-length, the cleverly-titled Don Domestique, in late 2012 for a release early in 2013. "Dixie Brothers" stumbles at full speed for all of two minutes and thirteen seconds, but it makes the most of its brief stay. Speeding through the verses and kicking on the fuzz pedals when they need to increase the song's intensity, the song reaches its peak when Matthews belts out the final lyrics, ending the song as messily as it arrived. Delightfully rough, "Dixie Brothers" eschews precision for speed, which, as a certain pair of fictional Southern brothers could tell you, is a hell of a lot more fun.

Bear Ceuse don't have any dates on their docket at the moment, but if they go back out on the road, you'll hear about it first on their Facebook and website. Watch the band play "Dixie Brothers" and "Entertain Me" in New York below.