By: Carlos Aranibar
Rating: 8/11

With the summer concert tour season upon us, Casket Salesmen of Corona, CA have a sound all their own. It makes for a great soundtrack for the morning-after, on drives from such far off places as Coachella; their intensity keeps you awake as you tumble across the hills of the California desert, but the singer’s voice cools that burning in your skull and eye sockets, still smoldering from the night’s festivities.

Their cornerstone, “I’ll Buy That For A Dollar,” best encapsulates their sound: commercially viable and confident yet unique. Distorted vocals and wailing guitar introduce a catchy bridge with some bowed instrument used to nice effect. Foo Fighters come to mind as they smash through the raucous closing, wrapping up the cheesy but noteworthy lyrics: “Buy the life that you want, and then sell it/ There must be an easier way through this/I just feel like I’ve been falling forever.”

Melodic vocals start off on a hopeful note in “The Anaheimlich Maneuver,” singing about it being “such a nice day.” We are then reminded to not “f*ck up” and are let down easy in a Beatles-esque refrain. Staying with the 60’s theme, Casket Salesmen incorporate bongos in a style much like CCR. It quickly turns into a screaming match between vocals and rock guitar, with the ax having the final word.

The lead vocals take back center stage in “Dr. Jesus,” covering a wide range of highs and lows and a fair amount of screaming in between. This being one of their most driven songs, it is only fitting that all hardcore systems are go. The guitars tandem some hard riffs, the drums pound away with loud, well-executed fills, and then it quiets down to only moaning guitar strings beckoning you to flick a Zippo or wield a flip phone, which ever the case may be.

“Art Sandwich” is the fifth song on their playlist, and is the perfect bookend for it. It took several listens to pinpoint the best comparison for the vocalist, but I finally realized that when Jordan Pundick of New Found Glory hits puberty, he’ll sound like Casket Salesmen’s lead vocalist.