Danko Jones: Fire Music

Flame on!

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Clocking in at a snappy 36 minutes, DJ’s newie displays not a single ounce of fat, not a riff out of place, no guitar solo longer than it needs to be, no fist-banging chorus wasted – this is a rock’n’roll surgical strike, the venom and violence delivered straight between the eyes.

From the moment Wild Woman lights the blue touchpaper, it’s abundantly clear that this is one helluva pissed-off record. Witness The Twisting Knife, the brass-knuckle thrash of Gonna Be A Fight Tonight, the blood-soaked Body Bags – it ain’t pretty, but the anger and attitude on display is addictive.

The only points where the darkness lifts somewhat is on the cheeky Getting Into Drugs and Mango Kid-inflected Do You Wanna Rock, which features some seriously funky cowbell-fuelled grooviness. Otherwise we’re back to the viciously honest I Will Break Your Heart, flesh-tearing Piranha and closing rage-fest that is She Ain’t Coming Home.

This is not happy music, this is pain, betrayal, resentment, regret and incandescent fury. Truly incendiary stuff./o:p

Essi Berelian

Whether it’s magazines, books or online, Essi has been writing about rock ’n’ metal for around thirty years. He has been reviews editor for Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, rock reviews editor for lads mag Front and worked for Kerrang!. He has also written the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and contributed to the Rough Guide to Rock and Rough Guide Book of Playlists, and the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles (13th edition). Most fun interview? Tenacious D – Jack Black and Kyle Gass – for The Pick of Destiny movie book. An avid record/CD/tape collector, he’s amassed more music than he could ever possibly listen to, which annoys his wife no end.