THE DURANGO RIOT (Telemission) CD
I never heard anything before from the Swedish group THE DURANGO RIOT. The press-info says, that they have been signed by Fuzzorama Records, after the label did hear their first effort, entitled 'Beat the Kids EP', and that THE DURANGO RIOT will give me a new vision in music. Ok, call me Jesus Christ, and I'm your saviour, is my answer to the second part of this info. So let's face the facts! This band has not much in common with heavy fuzzrock, but more with Glam and Sleaze. They also like The Stooges, and aren't afraid to use also a saxophon, as in 'Incognito'. Needless to say, that they never reach the class of the original, but they don't really fail with this song. I can't help, but it's not easy for me to find out the differences between the mass of bands, who are playing the same kind of 70's influenced Punk-driven Hardrock. Due to the high amount of same-sounding bands, there's a high risk of becoming just the next faceless band.
THE DURANGO RIOT haven't been successful with every song, and especially the production is sounding too commercial. Is this the "next big thing"? I have my biggest doubt! But on the better side, they have written a few very nice tunes, as for example the Blues-infected "Drives", which additional harp and, again, the saxophone. Another outstanding song from the album is the stomping mid-tempo rocker '(Rama Lama) Midnight Haze', with its sonic and screaming guitars or the melancholic anthem 'The Man in the Machine'. With a song like that, they're not that far away from a band like Detroit's excellent Novadriver. The flamengo guitar in 'Future 2036' is a nice idea, but most of the here included eleven tunes follow the same up-tempo patterns, and even not the vocals do seperate the band from the average ones. They have to improve their songwriting skills, because it's never enough to have only good playing skills. 'Telemission' is a solid start for an unknown band, but not interesting enough to impress me. With music like that, you will never cause any riots...
(KK)
www.durangoriot.com
www.fuzzoramarecords.com