Diesel Boy – Gets Old

Coming from 1993 Diesel Boy are definitely a band that has stood the tests of time, especially when their music is mostly of the Pop-Punk genre in style, but what this band have done is climb the ladder and peer above the parapet, the elusive ladder that most bands in this genre struggle to even find, Diesel Boy have set on up the rungs and then kept a place somewhere near the top, even though they haven’t released a full album since 2001, this is quite simply because they have something that keeps them apart form the crowd, a musical powerhouse that’s as fast as the Dickies and cockier than the Ramones or should that be the other way round, and this album takes up that climb and drives them even farther up above the masses of sound alike bands.

This latest album ‘Get Old’ has the band playing songs that still hold on to the playfulness that has been their trademark on past albums, yet this is definitely tinged with the scars of time, ‘Viking Funeral’ is a case in point, a song that hits an almost Metallica level of darkness in places, yet still feels power pop at heart, its a grown up song that sits well with getting older in the music scene, this is swiftly followed by the punchy ‘Corpse Paint Blues’, a pretty standard pop-punk style of a song, that has a bit of a juxtaposition considering it follows a song that I referenced Metallica in, yes its about sad Metal fans, this still stands out as a much more matured slice of life observations though.  

This takes us to the other reason this band stands above the masses, the lyrical content is somehow held up above the musical soundscape, this is not to say they are average musically, but the vocal delivery just emphasises the life lived behind the words, or is it that the music compliments the lyrical mood so well, you can decide that for yourself, that’s getting too deep and I’m sure that not how this album should play out.  Fun still exists in songs like ‘Festival Summer’ and ‘Internet Girl’  the latter an ode that sounds like its been done before but who cares, its a Bowling For Soup style classic, that’ll do for me. Finishing the album is probably the most revealing song of all, it shows the much more considered side to the band and how growing up has affected how they think, this is by far the hardest listen on the album ‘Two Stones’ whether it wants to be or not, is a tribute to the song writers that have died too early on and maybe didn’t reach their full potential, but have left a legacy we all appreciate.

Out on SBÄM Records July 28th, go listen and like or not, you’ll still thank me for saying “don’t write this band off as just a voice in the crowd, just because your not listening properly”, anyway that’s my neck on the line.

Pop Punk, Emo, Rock Pop, call it what you like, it all has its place and then there are those places in-between, Diesel Boy are the alluring bit in the middle you’re not sure you should give in to or not, go on take a chance!

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