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Album Review: Dboy – New Records In Human Power
Dboy
New Records In Human Power - Alcopop! Records / Dine Alone Records
Full disclosure – I have no idea what a DBoy is and I should, because New Records In Human Power is full of references to DBoy and what they may or may not and should or should not do. Their PR describes the ‘gimp-masked and satin-clad punks’ as ‘overtly political, anti-fascist, mysterious, intriguing, bizarrely sexual in a confusing way’. I’ll have to take their word for that. In fact, their PR is all utterly confusing, yet oddly intriguing psycho-babble.
Form first. I had listened to this album at least twice before I realised I had listened to it twice. When 12 songs clock in at 17 minutes and, frankly, there’s not much deviation from the speed garage template, it’s understandable that there’s a danger that it might become one exhilarating blur. Which it is. There’s not much by way of subtlety in this record. It’s a brutal, scuzzed-out aural assault that doesn’t get out of overdrive for the whole helter-skelter trip. The downside of this is that 17 minutes is about right, unless you have anger issues and you’re just not in the mood for the soothing tones of, say, The Lighthouse Family. If that’s your thing, this will not be for you.
Content-wise, DBoys are what you get if you had a Ramones tribute band fronted by David Johansen. In fact, as well as the strong vocal nod to the New York Dolls, there’s the same feeling of uncompromising idiosyncrasy and a ‘fuck you’ attitude oozing out of this record that you got from the New York proto-punk glam scene back in the day. But this is punk all right – furious and frantic distorted riffing and pummelling rhythm. Everything is louder than everything else, all the time. You can easily imagine that the DBoy live experience is going to be equally brutal.
Amid the battering, there is some genuine melody. Scavangers (sic) Of Love is an unexpectedly tuneful assault. Clocking in at 2:32, it’s also the longest track on the album. For DBoy, that’s an epic.
New Records In Human Power is out in the UK on Alcopop! Records and Dine Alone Records in North America on February 14th
