Imagine winning the ‘National Grammy Showcase Competition’ with your band, and then having to deal with open-heart surgery, and all that involves, in the same year. That is what happened to Casey Hess in 1996, from the brink of the big time, including a "no strings" demo deal with Columbia, to having to stay in bed for months of recovery.
Three years later with the award little more than ashes in their collective mouths, and major record label interest as cold as a pissed-off female polar bear, they released an excellent and varied CD called ‘Aqua Vita’ that proves the talent and ability are still beating as strong as Mr. Hess’s heart.
Doosu are a band with a sound that is difficult to pin down. They veer across the musical highway at 80 mph; rarely staying in one lane long enough to give you time to appreciate just how good they are. Essentially they are children of grunge, but with the ability to move from melodic to angry, from fuzzy guitar to tunefully acoustic. The one constant through the varied styles is solid yet inspired songwriting.
Opening track ‘Louisiana House Fire, Mid 1950’s’ is layers of guitar, angry and swirling around a solid tune and inventive lyrics. It introduces the feel of the album excellently. The CD goes through an arc, starting angry and ending mellow, a real musical journey, and a prime example of how to construct an album so that it makes sense.
The band consists of Casey Hess and Eric Shutt, who share both the guitar and vocal responsibilities. Chad DeAtley provides bass and Todd Harwell drums. A solid line-up who for reasons best known to them reside in Dallas. Oh that will get me hate mail.
‘Aqua Vita’ is an album that constantly entertains during its twelve-track life, due to a combination of the quality of the songs and the intelligence of the production. My personal favorites are the final two tracks. ‘Pennies’, an acoustic, simple and pure love song and ‘Color of Her Hair’ an achingly beautiful melody and vocal hook that will make you want to cry, a simply excellent way to round off an album.
It seems like Columbia’s loss is the independent music seeker’s gain. If you are a fan of inventive alternative rock then I suggest you go give Doosu’s website a visit and their music a listen.

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