Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats (written as Uncle Acid and the deadbeats or simply Uncle Acid)[3] are an English rock band, formed in Cambridge by Kevin Starrs. The band have released six albums – the most recent, Nell' Ora Blu, was released in May 2024 – as well as a number of singles. The band appears regularly at festivals around Europe.
Biography
The band's music is heavily influenced by the late 1960s when heavy metal was emerging. Allmusic praised the band's ability to recreate a particular aspect of this era, describing the band as "celebrating the Summer of Love's soul-chilling autumn: a blasted landscape, post-flower power, resembling Altamont's killing fields, reeking of the Manson Family murders, and, naturally, sounding like a mish-mash of all of the apocalyptic musical forces that converged upon that era".[4]
The band has been described as "the original Alice Cooper band jamming in a cell with early Black Sabbath and the Stooges".[5] In order to replicate the sound of that era, the band uses vintage instruments and recording equipment.[6]
The band’s name was taken from Rusty Day, the singer of Cactus, who later had a band called Uncle Acid and the Permanent Damage Band.[7] Uncle Acid was originally the otherwise-anonymous frontman, although he has since changed his stage name to K.R. Starrs and now views the band members collectively as being "Uncle Acid".[8]
Blood Lust was the band's breakthrough album, with The Quietus describing it as "a glorious and idiosyncratic collection that quickly garnered rabid cult status amongst the worldwide doom fraternity"[6] and Decibel Magazine referring to it as "a groovy, evil delight".[9]Allmusic described Blood Lust as "a mixture of psychedelic rock's harrowing comedown, garage and punk rock's nihilistic ascent, and the earliest manifestations of heavy metal's occult-laced, nerve-damaging bludgeon".[4] The album garnered substantial acclaim, for which K.R. Starrs remarked, "It kind of took everyone by surprise that the album took off the way it did".[10]
With the release of the band's third album, Mind Control, more 1970s pop influences were incorporated into the music.[11] A concept album, K.R. Starrs explained that Mind Control is a "fictional story ... about a cult leader who comes down from the mountain and brainwashes his desert disciples through drugs, love, violence, and intimidation".[12] According to Metacritic, the album has received "universal acclaim" with a score of 81 based on seven critics.[13] Justin Norton, writing for Decibel Magazine, awarded the album a score of eight out of 10 and described the album as "a perfect union of Sabbath riffs, fuzz and Herschell Gordon Lewis".[14]
Band members
Current members
"Uncle Acid" (Kevin R. Starrs) – lead guitar, lead vocals, organ[15] (2009–present), rhythm guitar (2009–2012, 2017–2018)
^Pardo, Pete (2 June 2013). "Get your Mind Control on with Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 3 June 2013. I used to call myself Uncle Acid, but now the whole band is Uncle Acid and I go under K.R. Starrs, just for some added confusion. I guess our fans are the deadbeats.
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