Swagger, energy and sleaze sleaze sleaze…
Released on 22 April 2016 through Rodeostar and reviewed by Stephen “No they don’t call me Snakehips” Brophy
Most likely just a case of me missing out on the chat about them, but I hadn’t heard very much about Swedish sleazesters Dust Bowl Jokies until they appeared on the bill for HRH United 2016 last month. Having managed to catch most of their set it was a really impressive performance, lots of energy from the whole band, but a frontman with not only the energy but also the swagger that’s needed to go somewhere in this genre. Like a cross between Erik Grönwall (H.E.A.T.) and Josh Todd (Buckcherry), what is it with Sleaze frontmen being as thin as a rake? But Alexx Brorsson is another frontman with tonnes of ability, can sing, can perform and just fits the part. In fact, he sums up the band: they fit what they are trying to create perfectly.
So to their second, self-titled album and the follow up to 2014’s debut Cockaigne Vaudeville. Well, it has to be said that it’s a much more impressive slab of sleaze than most releases these days. There’s a maturity in their output that most bands in the genre only hit after three or more albums. Crashdiet, for example. Much as I liked their early output, they only really reached this sort of level on their latest album The Savage Playground. But for Dust Bowl Jokies, tracks like ‘Borderland’, ‘Rawbone’ and the oh-so-haunting ‘Son Of The Sun’ have that quality stamp all over them. Nothing here is just throwaway fodder. In fact the more I’ve listened to this album the more I can envisage a stunning acoustic set.
This album is a big step up from their debut. There are plenty of tracks here that keep you coming back for more. There’s the pure, balls-out rocking of ‘Hogs And Heifers’ that just rips along and makes you want to scream along with it, a throw-back quite possibly, their influences quite apparent at times, but it’s a good song and that’s what shines through. And it’s the same with the closer ‘Lulu’, another cracking track. It’s hard to pick standouts as there are many different types of song but it marries together so well. Screaming guitars to shrieking vocals and such a solid rhythm section, this really is an album that you shouldn’t let slip you by in 2016. Where they go from here I’ve no idea but it’s going to be interesting to follow them and see where the journey leads.
9 out of 10
Track list:
- Mama Cocha
- The Moon Hanger Groove
- Borderland
- Old Fashioned Country Canvas
- Pink Flamingos
- Rawbone
- Bad Juju
- Hogs And Heifers
- Son Of The Sun
- Lulu
