Radkey: Dark Black Makeup

Band of brothers hit the target with first shot.

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Lou Reed once sang about having kids and how he would ‘keep the tyke away from school and tutor him myself/Keep him from the poison of the crowd’. Maybe Radkey’s dad was listening.

A band of three brothers (surname: Radke), black kids from Shitsville, Missouri, they were home-schooled and introduced by their dad to Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and – you would guess by singer Dee’s sonorous vocals – The Misfits.

It’s worked out well: debut album Dark Black Makeup is a thrilling half-hour of punk rock with a small ‘p’ but a big UNK! – hooky, heavy and furious in all the right places. Romance Dawn takes off like Teen Spirit, the title track swings like The Damned of Plan 9 Channel 7, and songs like Parade It could have audiences from Download to Reading bouncing in the mud.

Lock the front door and smash the Xbox. Don’t let your kids do anything until they can do this.

Classic Rock 214: New albums M-Z

Scott Rowley
Content Director, Music

Scott is the Content Director of Music at Future plc, responsible for the editorial strategy of online and print brands like Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, Guitarist, Guitar World, Guitar Player, Total Guitar etc. He was Editor in Chief of Classic Rock magazine for 10 years and Editor of Total Guitar for 4 years and has contributed to The Big Issue, Esquire and more. Scott wrote chapters for two of legendary sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson's books (For The Love Of Vinyl, 2009, and Gathering Storm, 2015). He regularly appears on Classic Rock’s podcast, The 20 Million Club, and was the writer/researcher on 2017’s Mick Ronson documentary Beside Bowie