Being Dead — the Texas-based trio of best friends Falcon B*tch, Gumball, and Ricky Moto — announce their debut album, When Horses Would Run, out July 14th on their new label home Bayonet Records, and share the lead single/video, “Muriel’s Big Day Off.” When Horses Would Run propels listeners into vivid landscapes: desert planes, dirty basements, lush rolling hills. Being Dead is here to create worlds where we can soak in stories of carefree shoplifters, wayward cowboys, and the final moments of a lonely Buffalo on the range. Merging surf rock, freak pop and frantic punk, Being Dead’s eclectic influences and energetic pull swells on their excellent debut album.

On “Muriel’s Big Day Off,” Gumball’s garage punk monotone delivery and Falcon B*tch’s tuneful tenor volley back and forth in what sounds like the theme song for some Adult Swim cartoon that comes on at 1AM. It also showcases Being Dead’s creative process, where instincts and gut reactions are favored over second-guessing or laborious technicalities. “Muriel’s Big Day Off” tells of the titular Muriel and her best friend Friedrick, who spend their day doing exactly what they want: stomping around town, drinking tea, and shoplifting. Inspired by Falcon B*tch and Gumball’s acid trip in which — after drinking wine on their porch and “having a really nice time with a tree” — they returned home, enamored with the patterns of their fingers on the guitar, rather than the way the chords actually sounded.

The result incorporates elements of jazz, with animated piano runs and driving melodies alongside the band’s tongue-in-cheek lyricism. The accompanying video, helmed by the band’s own Falcon B*tch and starring Baldie Loxx, is fittingly acid-soaked, collaging illustrations with live-action footage to perfectly capture the song’s frenetic energy.

At the core of Being Dead is the friendship between Falcon B*tch and Gumball. The Texas-based multi-instrumentalists love to make up elaborate tales of their first meeting: as chimney sweeps in the mid-1700s, as shoemakers in Middle England, as competing acrobats in a traveling circus. It’s a testament to their ever-playful attitude — one that powers over into When Horses Would Run, in which the two toe the line between jest and sincerity. The nurturing foundation of these platonic soulmates urges both Falcon B*tch and Gumball to be their full, freaky selves, prodding at the absurdity of the world with slick n’ dreamy strums, gritty percussion, and kaleidoscopic harmonies.

When Horses Would Run doesn’t linger in one place for too long — instead, it dances alongside the periphery, flickering between Super-8 memories and moments.  “Our music is really a slice of our friendship,” says Falcon B*tch. “We’ve lived together and we’re always together and I feel like it’s a palpable thing.” They began writing what would eventually become When Horses Would Run back in 2017, with Falcon B*tch likening the album to a kind of collage of Being Dead so far. “This is definitely a collection of songs from different versions of ourselves,” she says. Recorded at Radio Milk with producer/engineer Jim Vollentine (Spoon, White Denim), When Horses Would Runspit-shines Being Dead’s sound without diminishing their weirdo-best-friend vibes.

This spontaneous, gung-ho approach marks a refreshing originality in Being Dead. When Horses Would Run celebrates the nourishing merriment of friendship, the importance of enjoying the here and now, and creating simply for the hell of it. Here we have a reminder that we can not only move through the burdens of our past, but we can have company —and fun —while doing it.

Photo Courtesy: Niamh Fleming