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-Greg’s Take-

There is apparently an unspoken rule in rock that if all else fails, or there is a bizarre gardening accident, or if someone explodes on stage, or if someone turns into a little green globule (maybe a stain – it’s debatable) then make your wife the drummer. Heck it seemed to work for Jack White.

But for Chicago based trio The Diemakers, the resulting sound is less “Hell Hole” and less noodley distorted, screeching rock guitar and more classic underground dirty, sweaty rock.

Dominic Harris, Jay Harnish and Sharon Harris incorporate a vintage beat-punk/rock style with Detroit Recordings that, at first, had me cringing at the sheer rawness and chaotic nature of their sound. But very soon I found myself jamming out to their style as if it were some dark, dank bar I stumbled into late at night looking for something hard to drink and finding more than I ever imagined.

The six track release reminds me of what an early George Thorogood would have sounded like if he were to lean retro punk as opposed to bluesy rock; it isn’t pretty, it isn’t clean and it is hardly consumable by mainstream – not enough bubblegum; not to mention the slurring blues presence (“Things” and “Gotta Go”). But through the attitude drenched lyrics, the driving basic but appropriate beats, strutting riffs and overall rebellious personality emerges a pulsating call to arms to be true to yourself regardless what everyone else thinks.

Oddly enough Detroit Recordings doesn’t feel like it should work nearly as well as it does.  Superficially, there are quirks that stand a chance to rub you the wrong way. There are the ever-present beat change-ups, flirting with being very off, and there are the uncaring, almost half-hearted chorus’ (“All The Plans We Make”). And in the end, these are the things that elevate The Diemakers to the forefront of my mind when I consider really good modern punk rock influenced by The Beat Generation. Hell, Costello tends to be way off and still stands up to the test, I’m sure The Diemakers could too. Rebel against the flow of life and rebel against the norm and give Detroit Recordings a spin.