Dank

Album Review

Chicago, hog butcher to the world, is still a hotbed of killer post-punk. Never mind Liz Phair and the Smashing Bumpkins, it's the mid-'80s Big Black/Naked Raygun/Effigies/Breaking Circus/Bloodsport sound that still holds water for the best bands in town. On Dank it comes back like time travel: harrowing, punishing, uncompromising blue-collar, no-bullsh*t rock, with harsh rhythms and brutal guitars. You don't need the hint that the lashing Joe Haggerty of Pegboy (and before that, Bloodsport) sits in on drums for two songs — you can just feel the gleefully menacing but briskly played slam over the head. It's that caustic treble-bass from the Stranglers, the mammoth guitars of Killing Joke via Buzzcocks, the jagged rhythms of Gang of Four, and the brains of early Wire. Even though Dummy covers the Left Banke's 1966 number five hit, the Baroque pop jewel "Walk Away Renee," this trio is about chops and cranking out a tightly reigned cacophony. Singer/bassist Mark De Rosa has the clearly enunciated gruff-shout-singing down, and you can tell that he and slamming drummer Scott Kinsey and guitarist John Barnicle must grab gigs by the throat. Tight, angry, corrosive, but full of slamming, raspy riffs and big-chorus bursts like "Venom Spit" and "In Chelsea" (the soaring standouts), these guys will hopefully start a revolution in their metropolis and kick the pretenders back out the door. If so, tell 'em not to let the door hit their pretentious a*ses on the way out. (dummy@underwhelm.com) ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide