Daggers: Volta’s Ikey & 2Mex

2MEX JOINS FORCES WITH IKEY OWENS OF THE MARS VOLTA FOR LOOK DAGGERS
DEBUT LP DUE SEPTEMBER 30 ON UP ABOVE RECORDS

Look Daggers – Ikey Owens & 2Mex

Combining the musical direction of Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens with the lyricism of L.A. underground rap hero 2Mex (Visionaries), Look Daggers features a bombastic blend of hip-hop, rock and pop hooks on their debut LP, Suffer in Style, due September 30 on Up Above Records (Visionaries, MC Supernatural, Jurassic 5). The album will be packaged with a DVD entitled, “Alive for Now In Long Beach,” capturing the evolution of the band, including exclusive interviews, a live show, rehearsal footage and music videos.

Brought together by a shared love for live instrumentation, Suffer In Style is the end product of Owens and 2Mex fusing together a group of über talented musicians from different backgrounds and genres, to create a truly kaleidoscopic, genre-blurring album. Recorded live in two parts (starting in the summer of 2005) the duo eschewed samplers, sequencers and Pro Tools and instead enlisted the musical prowess of their friends: Pablo Hinojos-Gonzalez (The Mars Volta), Brett Hinds (Mastodon), Marshall Goodman (Sublime/Long Beach Dub Allstars), Pat Bailey (Breakestra), Ray Barbee, Ryland Steen (Reel Big Fish), Existereo (Shapeshifters) and many others. They’ve come a long way and have since cemented a permanent band in place including several of the aforementioned musicians, to see their musical vision through how it’s best experienced – live.

This collection is far from 2Mex fronting The Mars Volta or anything you might be assuming; it’s something entirely different. Beginning with “That Look,” the Spanish-inspired electric guitar signals this isn’t an ordinary hip-hop record; the ensuing musical odyssey ensures that. Over the course of 13 tracks, Look Daggers seamlessly explores dark dub (“Youth Is Getting Restless),” thick-based jazz (“Before You Say No),” ’60s psych-rock (“Know Turning Back”), heartfelt torch songs (“You’re Not Talking To Me”), acerbic indie rock (“New Wave Spazout”) and bouncy pop (“Call U Later”). Whether it’s a snarky send-off or an ominous warning, 2Mex flexes his rhyming muscle and singular delivery while Owens brings the songs to life with his inventive instrumentation evident in nearly every song.

Look Daggers concept is simple: a hip-hop album performed by humans. In this case, they’ve more than succeeded with Suffer in Style just a precursor of what’s to come.

Look Daggers – “Call You Later” music video

Look Daggers First Show

Check out more of Look Daggers’ music at myspace.com/lookdaggers.