Rock
and roll, in its conventional hard-rock form, seems to have all but
disappeared. Who practices this archaic type of musical expression,
with its earnest guitar-bass-drums-vocals format and no
acknowledgment of irony or speed metal, alt country, world music, hip
hop, emo, or any other musical fashion of the past 20 years except
grunge? Pearl Jam seems the last vestige of this noble tradition with
both credibility and market presence.
Trend-chasing is less prevalent at the local level, of course, and Kewanee's Drunk Dead Gorgeous - playing at Penguin's Comedy Club on March 16 - creates unapologetic guitar rock that's heartfelt and played with passion. With its emphasis on acoustic guitars, the band's new-ish album, The Great Disillusion, sounds a lot like a collection of power ballads.
I don't meant that derisively. The power-ballad problem basically arises when bad-ass rockers want to (sell more records and) show you their sensitive sides. There's nothing wrong with the form itself, and Drunk Dead Gorgeous gets it right most of the time. Singer Ian Moore emotes effectively, Jesse Wagner's keyboards work overtime to express inner turmoil, and the percussively strummed guitars underscore the ache.
"Nostalgiaholic" is the most nakedly emotional song on the record, and guitarist Nicholas McClelland takes some of the expressive burden off Moore with a simple minor-key solo that draws most of its power from variations of tone and volume; when McClelland and bassist Derick Kapteina lock together, it taps into some of the primal power inherent in synchronous cock rock.
And on "Odd Little Song," Moore breaks out his best Eddie Vedder, and it's pretty damned good, slightly scorched with an angry tremble. "This Moment & Death" has the escalating, self-important pomp of "November Rain," but thankfully gets to its business a lot more quickly.
The CD's sound quality is basically that of a good demo, and the songs err on the side of the formulaic. This is a band that knows what it does well and seems somewhat afraid to break out of it.
But what The Great Disillusion lacks in polish and variety it more than makes up for in enthusiasm. Drunk Dead Gorgeous seems to know that a power ballad only works if you sell the hell out of it, and this quintet does that.
The Great Disillusion is available at Quad Cities' Co-Op stores.
Drunk Dead Gorgeous will perform on Friday, March 16, at Penguin's Comedy Club in Bettendorf, with August Zimbal and Echodrive. The show starts at 9 p.m., with a $5 cover For more information on the band, visit (http://myspace.com/drunkdeadgorgeous).
