Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned

South Side Of The Moon

BY Keith CarmanPublished May 20, 2008

How being a roadie for ANTiSEEN merits a recording contract is one of life’s great mysteries. Yet such is the case with Gideon Smith, former amp-humper for the Southern boogie metallers that ran with GG Allin. As expected on South Side Of The Moon, Smith’s influences run the Grand Canyon of diversity: from Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Allman Brothers. However, while Smith and crew aren’t exactly diverging from the Southern rock of Roadsaw, Cocknoose and so on, the musical precision and searing solos on these 13 tracks are relatively impressive. It’s only when Smith opens his mug, singing about tripe like being freaked out by posters of wizards and living the life of an outlaw, that any outright rockin’ is negated. Were Smith to find a competent lyricist — and preferably a singer with some range beyond boring old tenor — South Side Of The Moon would be unstoppable. As is though, it fails to provide anything lasting.
(Small Stone)

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