Just what kind of music do you listen to these days, and, if you had the opportunity and talent, what kind of music would you be making? You’d feel no guilt in judging someone based on the records and CDs that they had in their collection. But if we were to do the same and use your Spotify Wrapped list as a guide, we’d learn that you appreciate 78 music genres, 357 artists, and music made during seven different decades. You either like a lot of music, or most probably, you don’t know what you like.
There’s an awful lot to choose from in this modern world of ours, but only so much time, and a limited amount of love that we can dedicate. The top pop stars, in reality, switch between styles like human jukeboxes, and very few of them make music that feels vital. What’s the easiest and fastest fix?
Trust the musicians who’ve made a clear choice and who’ve been able to pour all of their energy into one sound. When it comes to The Del-Viles’ new album, “It’s Just a Kiss-Off,” all of the band’s thoughts on love, loss, and lust are blended to a retro garage rock sound.
But that’s just a way of maintaining the focus, and, in some ways, it’s just a cover-up. Take a listen to a song like “Two-Tone Dress,” and before you decide that The Del-Viles are eager to be a great pub rock band, listen more closely, and you’ll discover some real grit and some genuine anger married to the bluesy garage-rock hooks.
There are distorted three-chord guitar riffs used on songs like “Wild,” and the feeling that, with some added sweetness, this could have been a late 60s, Nuggets-era, road song. But, there’s also a howl placed on top of all these songs that, somehow, feels like an apt soundtrack for modern times.
And while the great garage-rock revival bands fret endlessly about maintaining a high level of energy across an entire set, The Del-Viles are also confident enough to change tactics when necessary.
“Don’t Hang Around” leaves the muscular guitar in places, but matches them with poppy vocal melodies. “Skeleton” is a minimalist, John Lee Hooker-like blues stomp. And, the closer, “River Seine,” is a sorrowful acoustic number about lost hope.
Yet, thankfully, every time you worry that The Del-Viles are going to ditch the highway and stay on the country roads to get to where they’re going, it’s back into the speed lane.
So, where does it all leave us? Unable to hide ourselves from ourselves and others. In the case of The Del-Viles for the “It’s Just a Kiss-Off” album, the garage-rock direction offers the necessary combustion, but it’s all the personal details that the songs occasionally share that make you come back to it.
Social media links
