Dax Riggs: Say Goodnight To The World

Dax Riggs blasted out of Louisiana in the ’90s with Acid Bath, a super-heavy hard-rock band that combined the thick, distorted guitar riffs of stoner-metal with elements of goth, post-punk, swamp-blues, and psychedelia. Since Acid Bath’s demise, Riggs has fronted a number of bands—most notably Agents Of Oblivion and Deadboy & The Elephantmen—and with each, he’s gone a little deeper into his inspirations. As a solo artist, Riggs is still genre-mining, but he’s largely shaken off the metallic sludge and unrelenting ferocity that used to define his sound. Say Goodnight To The World is full of gloomy portent and horror-show imagery, delivered in his best Peter Murphy/Iggy Pop croon, but the sound bounces between spacious, spooky, and glam. From the apocalyptic album-opening title track to the spacey closer “See You All In Hell Or New Orleans,” Riggs emphasizes the theatrical side of the end of days. Songs like the squalling “Gravedirt On My Blue Suede Shoes” and the Stooges-nicking “Let Me Be Your Cigarette” set the tone, with Riggs’ cocky voice and fuzzy guitar repping a man who’s dancing to his doom, and isn’t the least bit anxious about it.