David Karsten Daniels Preview

David Karsten Daniels
Empty Bottle, Chicago
Thursday, March 29, 2007

“There is a joy that you can’t contain/there is a feeling you just can’t explain,” David Karsten Daniels sings on the first track, “The Dream Before The Ring That Woke Me,” from Sharp Teeth. Not exactly what you expect from a record whose cover depicts a naked man eating the intestines of a naked woman.

In fact, there’s not much on Sharp Teeth, Daniels’ first proper release, that hints at the inspiration for such provocative art. For the most part Daniels, a singer-songwriter from North Carolina, keeps his folk-tinged indie rock soft and subdued. On songs such as “Beast” and “American Pastime,” which he layers with strings and instrumentation, he comes off like a poor man’s Sufjan Stevens, though Daniels doesn’t have those kinds of melodies, at least not on this record. “We Go Right On” proves, though, he has the ability to be both catchy and arty when he wants to be.

Daniels, along with Washington D.C.-based rock ‘n’ roll country act Shortstack, open for Arbouretum.

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly