Dead Man's Shoes

Dead Man's Shoes is a record on which FM set its signature smooth choruses and Steve Overland’s warm voice atop restrained, bluesy playing. Rather than lavish arrangement, it values the flow of the songs and the afterglow of the melody. Amid the mid-1990s atmosphere in which alternative rock rose, the band stepped into a more understated, grounded sound. Stepping back a pace from the glittering AOR path and foregrounding the feel of blues and roots rock, the record holds a calmer depth different from before. The guitar adds precise color where needed, and the rhythm section supports the songs supply. As a result, this work became the close of the first period of FM, after which the band would temporarily go on hiatus. For all its restraint, the expressiveness of Overland’s singing and the essential appeal of the songs stand out — a record that plays at a mature temperature.