Danko Jones
Sleep Is The Enemy
5.2
This is another one of those albums whose presence here we have a hard time explaining. When one of these arrives in the MetalReview mailbox, we reviewers look at each other with the most dreadful expressions, as if we were posing for a cover of a gothic album. Choosing the unpopular alternative, I decided to dive head first into this album without any knowledge whatsoever to the group’s genre, which I’ve found quite clearly to be that “fun” rock that has become quite popular with the kids these days. This isn’t dance rock. Neither is it that faux metal of Avenged Sevenfold. Danko Jones know their aesthetic well, and it’s rock through and through. The vocals though…so vanilla in respect to tone. He does some cool things with rhythm and it’s pleasant, but it’s nothing that’s going to make this group stand out from the thousands of fun rock revivalists permeating the music industry like vultures picking the audience scraps leftover from the last Velvet Revolver or White Stripes release. Finding the energy to describe an album as mediocre as this becomes a chore, because the lyrics, vocal delivery, and riffs are never homosexual enough to grab you by the balls and twist ‘em with a respectable ferocity. “First Date” is a slight exception because of its intense catchiness, but it’s nothing more than an obviously constructed radio hit, and if you ever watch the video you’ll probably tear your hair to pieces knowing schlock like this is being pimped by the industry. And there’s no doubt that the industry is doing a good job pimping this album, because not one song on this CD goes over 3 minutes and 46 seconds; built from the ground up as a tribute to radio. If this band was personified, it would be a 17 year old kid with those green and black star tattoos, short spiky hair, a tight black shirt with grey lettering that said something witty about drinking, baggy jeans, and a wallet chain. Ultimately, bands like this don’t need my approval or disapproval, because they are going to sell a serious amount of records anyways based on the appeal of their image and the sheer catchiness of their music. I can’t hate this band, but I can’t love it either. On one hand, they’re catchy and that’s all they’re really trying to be; a catchy rock band. On the other hand, I have to warn those who are looking for any amount of depth against a band like this because, in the limited powers that I have as a reviewer, it’s the one duty I must respect.
