With immense range and an arresting call-and-response vocal technique, Nashville-area musicians Joe Falconer and Chris Ranker deliver their most wrenching and impassioned performance yet as The Electric Dentures on this rare B-side, dug up from the Pulse’s 1998 vaults, which came as a huge surprise to us, considering the Pulse debuted in ’05.
In a music world overrun with the trite, the verbose and the self-aware, the simplicity of “Heyman (Whoaman)” is a captivating change of pace, beguiling the listener with its cryptic call and raising the burning questions: Who is “man?” What elicited the “whoa?” It’s as if Falconer and Ranker anticipated the troubled times their generation would be facing just over a decade later: the predicament of the job market and the struggles for truth and self-identity. It seems as though the artists are sounding a warning to The Man himself, all while channeling the pioneers of protopunk with a bristling and incessant vocalized riff sure to get permanently stuck in your head—no hook or chorus needed.
“Heyman (Whoaman)”—the single alone—is our generation’s answer to Sgt. Pepper, embarrassing the entire music community across the genres with its sheer brilliance and emotive force. If all artists so profoundly grasped the power of an infectious riff and the impact of words, the world of music would be in a very different place indeed. “Heyman (Whoaman)” at once has the ability to provoke, inspire, challenge and uplift, and speaks volumes about the artists’ musicianship, songwriting ability and devotion to their craft. Everybody else, just give up.
Hear this amazing track right now!:
The Electric Dentures-Heyman (Woahman)
For more of The Electric Dentures, visit reverbnation.com/denturesrule/songs. Another deep cut is expected for release this fall on a split 7-inch with some Ramones rarities.
“Fucking incredible.” – Rolling Stone
“When I heard these guys for the first time, I shit myself.” – Elton John
“Is this the new Bright Eyes?” – James Franco
“Happy April Fools’!” – The Murfreesboro Pulse
