No Depression magazine famously explained its area of interest as "alternative country (whatever that is)." The whatever part is still going strong, thanks to bands such as Dead Rock West, a SoCal ensemble that's primarily a collaboration between Frank Lee Drennen and Cindy Wasserman. The group's résumé includes stints as sidekicks for Grant-Lee Phillips, Mark Olson and John Doe, and it's the latter that Dead Rock West's insurgent brand of whatever-twang most closely recalls. Anyone who dug on the coed chemistry of Doe and Exene Cervenka during their X years will gravitate toward Drennen and Wasserman's close-knit harmonies. Though Dead Rock West occasionally takes a detour down Bakersfield way, the group's meat and potatoes is bar-rattling rock numbers with a bit of power-pop jangle thrown in to keep the boogans at bay.
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