Just three years short of unleashing their acclaimed debut album, Lowdown ‘N’ Dirty, UK rockers The Dukes of Bordello uncage a new EP to again get us all riled up with four slices of voracious rock ‘n’ roll. The band breeds a sound, which lives up to the title of their long player, through a fusion of rockabilly, punk, hard rock, and psychobilly and once more across the four tracks of Deaf or Gory, the trio left ears and appetite greedy for more.
The Deaf or Gory EP sees guitarist/vocalist Andy Barrott, drummer Craz Taylor, and Chip Waite on doghouse bass share the band’s first recordings since that greedily received first album, a brand new track joined by a couple of striking covers and one live roar.
It opens up with Think I’m Turning Psycho and immediately winds an enticing groove around ears before leaping into its virulent stomp. The resonating slaps upon Waite’s bass instantly got under the skin, the bone clipping beats of Taylor adding to the virulent temptation which is only accentuated by the punkish riffs and psychobilly nurtured grooves of Barrott. Like a mix of Grumpynators and Nekromantix with Barrott’s tones leading the tempestuousness increasingly encroaching on its composure, the track is superb; prime schizo Dukes of Bordello.
It is followed by a cover of Strychnine by legendary garage rockers The Sonics. From its first breath, The Dukes of Bordello bring the dirtier side of the feral track to the surface; its natural growl elevated as the threesome fill its veins with punkabilly voracity. Barely kissing the two minute mark, the track simply stole attention as effortlessly as its predecessor before making way for another inimitable Dukes of Bordello makeover this time on Australian garage punk/hard rockers Coloured Balls’ song, Won’t You Make Up Your Mind. The original itself is a dirty slab of rock ‘n’ roll, almost a portent of punk rock to come a few short years later, yet the British outfit manage to lure even more feral aspects to its breath and character ensuring thick attention and keen appetite is readily given.
A rousing live cut of fan favourite All in the Name Of Rock ́N ́Roll completes the release, the track taken from Lowdown ‘N’ Dirty showing exactly why the band’s live reputation is as potent as the praise earned by their recordings. It is a fine end to another irresistible outing with The Dukes of Bordello, a band surely on the precipice of thick attention.
The Deaf or Gory EP is released April 3rd via Undead Artists Records digitally on CD: available @ https://undeadartists.bandcamp.com/album/deaf-or-gory and https://thedukesofbordello.bigcartel.com/ with a Limited Edition Red 7” Vinyl release in May via Sick Taste Records.
http://www.thedukesofbordello.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheDukesBordello/
Pete RingMaster 04/04/2020
Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright
The superb start is swiftly matched by the rawer air and antagonism of KFC Called The Cops On Me, the band blasting out defiance and attitude whilst springing another round of rock ‘n’ roll virulence lit up by voice and the incendiary spark of sax; that mix of rich tempting quickly shaping the following Who Gave What To Who? and its hook equipped antics. Evoy’s great vocals again just stoked participation and attention alone though the creative misbehaviour around him was just as much an instigator to the bounce which infested bodies at the same time.
The band’s new single, Glitters In Hell, is next and immediately springs an electro pop caress around ears and the golden lures of RED’s voice. There is an underlying darkness and punk aggression to the track which raises its head across the song but cannot defuse the pure radiance of melodies and vocal harmonics or one beauty soaked chorus. A track which just grew and wormed deeper under the skin by the listen it is more than matched by the virulent escapade that is Crosses. A rebellious slice of electro pop ‘n’ roll, there was no resisting its manipulation and lures on body and vocal chords; hooks and grooves as devious as the rhythmic compulsion set by Corre and GZ.
That classic breeding is even more pronounced in the following Midnight Moses; a soulful and hearty incitement needing mere seconds to entice ears and involvement. The bass casts an earthy rumble throughout the song, beats and percussion dancing on its spine as the guitars again spring a web of melodic and sonic enterprise. As the first, the track is pure contagion effortlessly drawing voice and movement before Believe calms the air a touch with its emotive flame across another catchy landscape. As with all tracks in varying degrees, it feels like a familiar friend in part and fertile originality in plenty more ways, the striking Carnival in turn emphasizing that feeling with its voracious surge and esurient holler not forgetting a groove which entwines ears like a sonic succubus.
The likes of Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, Muse, and Shinedown are offered as suggestions behind the False Hearts sound but in no time the EP’s opener and title track soon shows they are mere hints to something more strongly individual to the foursome. Familiarity and fresh enterprise do entangle within their music but Remedy openly shares a bold character and presence inimitable to the band. The first track immediately entangles ears in its spicy grooves, relaxing its insistence to welcome the captivating voice of Hodgson as beats continue to jab. That in turn sparks greater heat and intensity in the swiftly compelling encounter, its chorus a fire of energy and contagion surrounded by melodic and dextrous enterprise.
Recorded with Romesh Dodangoda (Lower Than Atlantis, Bring Me The Horizon, Funeral For A Friend), as its predecessor, the new release opens with Living A Lie. Emerging on a sonic dawn, punchy rhythms are soon rupturing the air to be quickly joined by bass and guitar bringing the ripe grooves and hooks the band has already earned potent praise for. Once into its eager but controlled stride, engaging melodic enterprise wraps the muscular dynamics of the track which are especially fertile around its eruption of a chorus, dynamics emulated in the similarly potent vocals of Shaw. Groove thick, the track is a striking and stirring start to the EP revealing alone the new strength and imagination in the band’s sound.
Oblivion opens up the album, a song which instantly unravels an instinctive infectiousness in voice and sound even before hitting its more aggressive and energetic punk ‘n’ roll stride. Molinero’s tones are as bare breathed and provocative as the melodic wiring escaping his guitar between punk bred chords, rhythms a potent anthemic incitement beneath it all.