“Dead West serves up a sonic landscape of the American southwest embedded with the rich poetry and distinctive songwriting sensibilities of AJ Raglow. The live shows never fail to cast a heart-warming, life-affirming glow among every soul in the crowd. It’s a treat every time I get to see them!” – Betty Benedeadly, Sheverb

“Dead West’s 2020 album Distance is a rumination on a life lived distantly, mulled over in a dusty western soundscape. Indie rock with country-western and punk influences, Dead West delivers on loud guitar riffs with frantic choruses as quickly as they deliver trudging, desolate ballads. “Silver Surfer” features quirky guitar work, giving a cocked eyebrow to strange passersby. “Brain chemistry” turns up the fuzz, imbuing our desert sojourn with psychotropic angst. The album’s titular track, with painfully delicate finger picking, contemplates impermanence, like a screaming spirit song before dawn or a day old fire. Distance is a complex human experience situated in an often bewildering but entirely familiar landscape, an uncanny desert wash if you will.” – Joe Brizzolara