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The Deadly
The Wolves Are Here Again
2005, Pluto Records
There‘s a new Big Rock Machine on the block, and Pluto Recs have caged it. The Deadly infuse thirteen songs with an unhinged, Blood Brothers-type atmosphere and abandon; the band contains ex-members of the seminal Turmoil as well as Sound of Failure, and on their debut album welcomes guests from the likes of Trouble Everyday and An Albatross. While I don‘t much like An Albatross, I am down with the Deadly and their straight-up rock attack. These guys are influenced by their punk and hardcore pasts, surely, but this is the new, rough rock that‘s making waves, and the Deadly are right up there competing for the crown. The 45-second blast of an intro (awesomely titled ‘Sick. Sick. Sick‘) sets the tone for the frantic barrage to follow, while ‘The Poor Kids‘ drops Converge‘s split-second timing. This music reminds me of the current craze of ‘danceable rock‘ sweeping the scene, but vastly, vastly heavier - the Refused, wherever they are, should be proud of this project. It might strike an uninitiated listener as nothing more than an exercise in being as extreme as possible, but the controls are in place; the rhythm section maintains a frenetic pace while the guitars and shouted vocals engage in a dogfight of abandon versus technicality. The sixth song, ‘Centralia‘, finally slows things down a bit with a big mid-tempo groove, with ‘We Are The Technology‘ continuing in the slower vein, with some competent singing. The ‘70s-on-steroids ‘The Dirty Stayout‘ is wildly entertaining, while ‘Make Me Rich‘ displays a fast-paced punk-rock mindset. There are other isolated moments where contemporaries are varied as Every Time I Die and mewithoutYou spring to mind, but the large majority of The Wolves is sheer rock bliss. Check it out.
- Mike Postma
Copyright ©2005