A Vintage Punk and New Wave Record form DEAD STAR BOYS
A brand new release from DEAD STAR BOYS delivers all the vintage punk rock and new wave grit that you can possibly want from either of the genres. These guys have nailed down the aesthetic of the bands they grew up absolutely loving, and the whole album is almost like an ode or a love letter to those kinds of bands.
The record is self-titled and waste zero time getting to the point with its first track "is remote control really breaking down?", which is a song that showcases not only their love and attention for punk rock but how they pay attention to the tones of their instruments and the way the whole thing is recorded So that you get that brilliant, classic, vintage, punk aesthetic along with the songwriting.
This is where it blows my mind. Right off the bat, you can tell there was a lot of attention to detail in the tone of the album. You can't have this new wave punk rock record that has classic songwriting and attitude, swagger, and approach with some kind of overly polished and fat tone.
The tone of the record has to line up with the songwriting, and they did an amazing job of doing that, which is exactly why the record works so damn well.
This is an excellent track to introduce the record with, simply because it gives you a lot of the best staples that you hear throughout the rest of the album.
Having said that, there's a lot of great surprises around its corners and outside the box style songwriting as well, a little bit of experimental approach, but all in all, you get this vibrant, character and personality-riddled new wave, punk rock action, and it never lets up.
Layers of awesome guitar work, classic riffs, brilliant punk rock bass guitar tone, and driving drumming, along with animated and in-your-face vocals.
Everything you really would expect from a vintage punk or new wave record, blending elements of that garage pop, garage-punk, and rock, and just letting everything rip so that they're thrashing out, but it's not over the top.
Again, this record, even in its songwriting, beckons classic punk rock bands from the early to mid-80s, and those are the kinds of bands I grew up loving.
This is exactly how I can tell these guys aimed for and accomplished that classic '70s and '80s punk rock aesthetic and tonality.
There's so much great catchiness and color throughout this record. Songs like " band tonight" give you such a huge bout of nostalgia with melodically driving and catchy vocals that are even addictive and catchy in the verses.
There are tons of this stuff all over the record, and if you're someone who loves classic punk or new wave, these guys are 100% for you.
There are a lot of memorable sections throughout the album and songs that stick with you for hours after you've heard them. The only way to satiate that is to go and listen to the record again, and while you may think that's just smart songwriting, it's just damn good punk rock.
I think these guys write like this naturally.
What's even more addictive to me is the energy.
The whole record pretty much portrays this live performance style energy. It's almost as if they tracked a lot of these live on the floor, and everyone involved was just feeding off of each other the entire time.
Of course, I wasn't there for the recording, so I'm not sure that's how they did it, but listening to the record makes you want to go see them perform it live simply because if they can capture this kind of energy and aesthetic on record so well, then going to see them live must be amazing.
It's kind of rare to hear a record and immediately know the band's going to kill it live. This is one of those rarities.
As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of surprises around the corners, and there's also a lot of depth in some of the lyrics.
Some of the lyrics on tracks can get pretty deep, semi-political, semi-personal, but there's usually a message there, and if you listen carefully, you can pick it up.
Tracks like " what are we gonna be tomorrow" are exactly what I mean.
Either way, definitely check this record out and try to listen to it in full because listening to the whole album in one shot is the best way to go. It spans about 12 tracks and is worth every minute of your time, especially if you love this kind of stuff.
DEAD STAR BOYS have nailed that vintage punk rock and new wave aesthetic damn near perfectly and have managed to blend in elements of other heavy rock genres here and there, sprinkled in naturally and adding even more robustness and fun to this album.
Don't just take my word for it though, dive into it right now.
