Wess Floyd

On first listen to Wess Floyd & The Daisycutters, I got the vibe of Springsteen & The E Street Band mixed with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and that general era of music. It's nice to hear a band these days that can stand alone, but also incorporate the feeling that the two previoulsy mentioned artists bring out in me. Simply put, they sound really great. I often wonder how some of these random bands make their way to Little Rock, but then I back up, and think that they are on their way to some bigger and grander place. This actually happens to be the case because these guys are headed to SXSW in Austin a couple days after playing White Water. I'm still in awe that these bands do stop here and play, and I keep hoping the charm of White Water and everyone who makes shows there wonderful will rub off on these bands and keep bringing them back. So far, so good. I'm not sure if there is an opener, but listening online, I don't necessarily care if there is one. If I'm not out of town, I'll be there.
- Littlerocklivemusic.net

Written by Tessa
Tuesday, 03 February 2009
Wess Floyd and the Daisycutters—Blood Sworn Enemies

If you are a Refreshments or a Roger Clyne admirer, this is your next fix!



Not quite country, not quite rock, yet combining sounds of the two complex genres that resembles, in a way The Rolling Stones, circa Exile on Main St. This means a night of liquid-courage-rockin’-dance moves and singing these catchy tunes along with friends.

An exceptional track, “St. Paul” brings a sense of nostalgia to the table. It unearths the gritty, beautiful sounds and smells of the Twin Cities; be prepared to be make a road trip to gather with whimsical city folk.

Nearly the whole album is rockin’ pleasure, a sure pick for an open highway cruise. These lyrics are perfect for a day when you feel like leaving the real world and letting the road pick your destination: “My tank is full of dreams/time is pickin’ up steam/listen to the engine scream”.

True to their roots of Nashville, Tennessee, they fit right in with the southern rock crowd, working hard to make ends meet, making tunes that don’t fit a recipe, and pleasing crowds relentlessly.

I assure you, a spoonful of Blood Sworn Enemies helps the medicine go down and will most likely be your next jukebox favorite

- DesMoinesMC.com

While similar groups such as Minnesota's The Hold Steady bristle with beer-fueled ambition, Blood Sworn Enemies seems to prefer reveling in plain, old drunken abandon, and that suits this set of three-chord bruisers just fine.

—DAVE PAULSON, STAFF WRITER - The Tennesssean

May 24th, 2008
Boasting a mix of bar band bluster and Southern rock swagger, this Nashville sextet swallow some soul on their latest, Blood Sworn Enemies. Following up their 2006 four-song EP Daisycutters, this release is heavy on the organ, giving their rootsy rock a bit of Memphis soul, particularly on the title track. They never stray far from the rugged twang that underscores their three-guitar (!!) attack, but dial it up a bit on the anthemic “St. Paul,” which sounds like pre-success Soul Asylum, and work a slow-burn blues vibe on “Rescuer.” There’s a timeless familiarity to the music, like they escaped from an AOR station 30 years ago, but that’s hardly disparagement. The playing is tight and Floyd’s appealing vocal twang recalls Chris Robinson, a kindred musical spirit. 9 p.m. at The 5 Spot —CHRIS PARKER

July 29th, 2006
12th & Porter: Power pop appears in many guises, and can be the most blandly formal of all pop styles, but for Dothan, Ala., natives Wess and Blount Floyd, playing in the manner of The Replacements, The Faces and Big Star isn’t a nostalgia trip. The Daisycutters are a relatively new band, and it shows in their exuberance and their intelligent synthesis of ’70s pop and ’90s post-modernism. On “Wrong” they reinvigorate standard tropes like getting turned on by girls who are gone, and during “Record Player,” a catchy cowbell-driven rocker, they get away with lines like, “Somebody stole my record player / It’s all I had to get me over you.” They favor rhythm-guitar interaction over solos, and seem unpretentious while harboring dreams of rock ’n’ roll glory. The brothers Floyd plan to release an EP in late August; this is a chance to see a talented young band with something to prove. — EDD HURT July '06
nashvillescene.com
- Nashville Scene

Led by Wess Floyd, Nashville band the Daisycutters put on one of the best straightahead, no-frills rock shows we've seen in the past year. Taking cues from Petty and Springsteen, Floyd and company sweat through sets of high energy, unpretentious roots rock
-NashvilleRage.com
07/29/06

"Frontman Floyd and his Daisycutters play hard hitting roots-rock."

"Though Floyd may fall under the Roots Rock banner because he has some twang in his tunes, make no mistake - he and his E Street Like band roll like the Stones and rock like Springsteen. Their not out to rewrite the Rock & Roll rule book, but sure have studied it. And it pays off in their highly entertaining live sets." - The Rage

BY: Jesse White

Wess Floyd and the Daisycutters’ new album, “Blood Sworn Enemies,” is a showcase of southern garage rock, influenced by such diverse subjects as punk rock, country and Coors original.

The band has three, count ‘em three, guitars and a piano player and they excel at anthemic sing-along tunes with twangy guitar solos that sound like a mixture of Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC. Fans of southern rockers like Drivin’ and Cryin’ or the Drive by Truckers should dig the Daisycutters.

The group’s title track is a ballad-esque song with lyrics on the verge of heartache. “Banks of Jordan” reminded me of the Skeeters, musically but not vocally; lead singer Wess Floyd has a higher range but has the same rural twang.

Slippery slide fills accentuate the bridge on top of ringing western minor chords drenched in tremolo. The song “St. Paul” is where the rock in southern rock becomes apparent; imagine Angus Young playing with the Black Crowes with John Mellencamp on the mic.

All of the guitars keep the sound full. There are often chords underneath muted melodies or clean or slightly dirty lead lines. Live, the Daisycutters should produce a wall of sound.

Fans of groups like Caddle, Captain Soularcat or even Moe will like Wess Floyd and the Daisycutters. They are never too serious, just a plain ol’ rock ‘n’ roll band with a little southern flair and tons of sing along-style choruses. They keep the energy high and their arrangements busy but tasteful.

This Nashville five-piece will be bringing their musical stylings to Rooster’s this Saturday, Aug. 16. For more on the band, visit myspace.com/wessfloydmusic.

Give ‘em a chance if you want a little twang in your ear. - The Corner News (Auburn, AL)

BY: RUSTY BAILEY

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Wess Floyd and The Daisycutters - all are synonymous with American rock 'n' roll, but you just might not have heard the last one yet.

Wess Floyd and The Daisycutters is a band about friendship.

It began with Wess, his brother Blount and guitarist Andrew Nelson, who played with them on occasion. Eventually, drummer Chris Johnson and bassist Nathan Roland joined the band, and it seemed that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly.

"We usually only fight when we're traveling on the road," Nelson said.

Even then, it's not too long before they're laughing as friends again.

"We can duke it out and then have a beer afterwards, and everything will be fine," said Wess Floyd, the lead singer.

The idea for the name "Daisycutters" came to Floyd when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.

"I've always liked bands that had names that you had an immediate reaction to, like Social Distortion or the Sex Pistols," he said. "We wanted explosive American rock 'n' roll, so we might as well name ourselves after a bomb."

While they want to represent all that is true about American rock, they consider themselves "Southern bar pop pioneers." However, the name of the genre actually just started out as a joke.

"A lot of the music you hear in Nashville is super self-important, and we just wanted to make fun of ourselves," Floyd said. "Everyone has just kind of looked at us as the drunkest band in town."

Floyd emphasized that it doesn't mean they're not serious about what they do. They just don't take themselves too seriously.

"We like to think of [our music] as something people can sing along to and forget about their nine-to-five," he said.

The Daisycutters' aim may be to make the crowd forget about its work week, but its shows are not for the faint of heart.

"We want the crowd to sweat with us just as much as we sweat and get into it," Nelson said, "and we'll do our best to try and get them to."

Floyd said he always wants to get the audience to participate because that's what he loved about all the rock 'n' roll shows he's attended.

"You never go see a great rock 'n' roll show and say, 'Man, that was a great show, I didn't get involved at all in it,'" he said. "The best shows I've ever been to, I have always felt a part of what's going on."

Nelson also wants the crowd to join in, but he is hoping the songs have a deeper connection with the audience.

"My biggest goal of all is for us to walk off the stage and for somebody to approach Wess and say, 'The lyrics really reminded me of a spot where I was having a bad time and that helped me out a lot,'" he said.

The Daisycutters have been together for about a year now, but the members didn't actually hit the road until the release of their record, "Blood Sworn Enemies," in April.

They've been mostly playing weekends, but Nelson said they want to do this full-time by 2009, and their specific goal is to play 200 shows next year.

Nelson, a University graduate, said he's excited to come back to Athens.

"I love Athens. I think there is no other town like it anywhere in America," he said.

With this being their fourth time playing in Athens, Floyd is anticipating the great response they usually get from the Athens crowd.

"It's really encouraging coming from Nashville, where the music-going populace is extremely apathetic towards anything new," he said. "I always look forward to playing in Athens. - Red and Black (University of Georgia)