Today finds me moderately hung
over and with a re-sprained thumb, but since I got them both in the company of
good friends last night I regret nothing.
Disc 588 is….We Sweat Blood
Artist: Danko
Jones
Year of Release: 2003
What’s up with the Cover? Hand on guitar,
with some very fake looking blood ‘sweating’ down the wrist. I like the groovy metal lettering spelling
out the band’s name – if you are going to play hard rock or heavy metal you
should always ensure your band’s name is spelled out in a killer font.
How I Came To Know It: I happened upon this one on my
own. Somewhere I heard the song “Forget My Name” and really liked
it. I think I asked Sheila to get the album
for me for my birthday and she complied.
How It Stacks Up: Danko Jones has six studio albums, but I’ve only got
this one, so it can’t really stack up.
Rating: 2 stars but almost 3
In an increasingly
self-referential and ironically detached world that there are still bands that
just want to rock – that would be Danko Jones.
Danko Jones is the lead singer and
guitarist, and more generally is also the name of the band he fronts. These guys are not about subtlety and
considered reflection. The songs are all power chords and raspy rock vocals.
Danko Jones (the guy) is a
visceral and present singer and no matter what he’s singing about he sounds
angry. I don’t think they actually sweat
blood, but after a performance I expect the microphone is dripping with spit at
the very least.
Lyrically, don’t expect this album
to expand your mind. These are songs
about lusting after hot women and playing rock and roll, and that’s about
it. Danko Jones makes Cypress Hill seem
complex by comparison. Weirdly, the CD booklet has all the lyrics in it, and
reading them doesn’t make them any more insightful. However, since the boys took the time to
print them, I’ll take a moment to mock them.
From “Hot Damn Woman”:
“I wanna ride with you honey
I wanna roll around the kitchen floor
I wanna fight with you honey
So we can make up and make love some more.”
It sounds more than a little dysfunctional
to me, as well as not being terribly FOODSAFE.
My fears on that front were confirmed later on where Jones tells his
girl “you can wear the pants if I bring
home the bacon.”
And this from “Strut”:
“So tonight don’t look for Mr. Right
You strap those tight pants on and walk in a straight line.”
Presumably after one of those famous
bacon fights, the woman of our earlier story decides to go looking for some
trouble on the town.
“Strut” is actually a pretty cool song, although it owes a lot to
the much earlier Kiss song, “Strutter.”
In fact early Kiss influences are throughout “We Sweat Blood” both in terms of
the songwriting and Danko Jones’ vocals.
Jones also tries to channel Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy in his
phrasing. Unfortunately, while he throws
himself into it Paul Stanley and Phil Lynott are two of rock’s better
vocalists, and by affecting their styles, Jones invites comparisons that are
not kind.
That said, there is an undeniable furiousness
to this record. There are 12 songs and
not a single one is over 3:30 in length. The album races forward, no
distracting ballads, no moments of quiet consideration. While the songs are far
from complex, they are played exceptionally tight and for a three piece these
guys manage to deliver some serious noise of the good variety.
They don’t waste time on long,
winding stories and they don’t descend into guitar solo noodling. They don’t get all grandiose and overextend
themselves. They get in, they get on it,
and they get out.
While the album isn’t fresh or musically
interesting enough to warrant three stars, it is still a good time and delivers
some solid rock and roll without pretention.
Best tracks: Forget My Name, Strut
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