Music, not offbeat names,
will get Dax an audience

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

In spite of a career defined by short-lived start-ups, Louisiana-based rocker Dax Riggs has slowly (but surely) made a name for himself. He first gained attention with his third attempt at a band, Acid Bath. This mid-1990s death-metal ensemble, most notable for Riggs’ vocals, caught listeners off-guard by making startling jumps from primeval roars to dazed psychedelic melancholy.
By 1997, Acid Bath had burned out, and Riggs launched several other projects. The most notable, and the only one to officially release an album, was Agents of Oblivion. With Agents, Riggs continued to meld heavier rock sounds with trippy lyrics and vocals, though the guitar riffs were no longer in the realm of metal. After a short tour, the band fell into, well, oblivion.
But it wasn’t the end of Riggs. Among the primarily Southern following that Riggs had gained through those two bands were recruiters from the Mississippi-based Fat Possum records. After Agents split up, Riggs began playing under the name Deadboy and the Elephantmen. The title was misleading: Riggs, for the most part, played solo. In addition to a handful of originals, Riggs played covers of equally dark-minded musicians like Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, cementing his reputation as a gruff guitar man with an affinity for life’s seedier side.
His compelling work under Deadboy convinced Fat Possum to sign Riggs to a three-album contract. His first work with Fat Possum was 2002’s If This is Hell, Then I’m Lucky. The album, originally released on the Rotten label, had a devil of a time going anywhere — it came and went.
Then came 2005’s We Are the Night Sky.
Packing absolutely ferocious guitar riffs, Riggs’ morbid sensibility and soulful vocals, and a modest slice of Southern charm, Night Sky dropped onto the Indie-rock scene like an A-bomb. Backed by a rotating cast of Louisiana musicians, Riggs’ addictive songs on Night Sky made Deadboy a hot name. They quickly booked gigs all over the country. From bars in California to the massive Bonaroo Festival in Tennessee, Deadboy hit the road and built a fan base eager for more.
And then they broke up.
Riggs’ seemingly chronic inability to keep a band alive for more than a few albums, however, has never meant an end to his reliable contributions. After Deadboy called it quits in April, Riggs decided to go by a name that would be harder to leave behind. This August, he is putting out a new album simply under the name Dax Riggs.
For fans who have been willing to play the old peanut-under-the-cup game that has been Riggs’ career, tenacity has paid off. Though always brief, Riggs’ various incarnations have been consistently memorable. Judging by the three pre-released songs from his upcoming We Sing Only of Blood or Love, that trend continues.
The trio of teasers, available at myspace.com/daxriggs, is a rocking spiral into the dark world of Riggs, loaded with coarse irreverence. It’s the bleakness of Leonard Cohen’s The Future colliding with psychedelic Swamp Rock lust. Tapping into the same hunger for back-to-basics rock that has fed the success of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the White Stripes and the Black Keys, Riggs dishes out blistering rock in pure form.
Still present in his aggressive guitar-playing is the energy of his metal days with Acid Bath, but the lyrics and vocals are more mesmerizing than ever. From Living is Suicide to Radiation Blues, the songs are a well-balanced mix of driving guitar and palpable, thought-provoking lyrics — something too often lost in so many other rock-heavy bands where screaming supplements songwriting.
This brief but enthralling glimpse of his new album is reason enough to check out Riggs this Monday night. A staggering backlog of sonic treasures, combined with the promise of unheard songs, cinches the deal on a rocking performance at the North Star. ••

Check it out …
Who: Dax Riggs
What: The driving mind behind Deadboy and the Elephantmen and a whole line of other cool bands.
Where: The North Star bar, 27th and Poplar Streets.
When: Monday, June 11, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.