Groove Junkie
The fingers on my right hand start to twitch, slowly curling gathering together in at attempt to hold a non-existent plectrum. They creak, their muscles almost brittle due to inactivity, but right now something unwitting is happening to them. The grooves, the beat, the chunky guitars wear down my metal cliché defences and before I know it my left arm is gripped around a non-existent fret-board and my right hand is plucking all the correct invisible stings on my stonewashed jeans. The Goddess of air guitar had come once more; she has me under her spell sending me back to a time when air-guitar was an acceptable metal pastime. For the Goddess has sent Danko Jones to bewitch us, taunt us and tease us with his AC/DC like anthems, to force we poor mortals to take our hair from our pony tails and once again form classic air-guitar poses. Goddess I curse thee.
This album shouldn't work, on initial listen it sounds like a rehash of music long since past, and after many listens it still sounds like a rehash of music long since past. It's a collection of tracks that are a little too close to its influences. But Danko Jones oozes a musical arrogance that somehow makes these crass and childlike songs work. 'Baby hates me' is pure AC/DC, unashamedly so. I should be angry about such a rip off but Danko's rasping vocals, the infectious guitar riffs and lush chorus are winning ingredients and I can't help myself playing air-guitar to the grinding axe work.
When not sounding like AC/DC Danko Jones steals heavily from the Wildhearts, tracks such as 'She's Drugs' and 'Invisible' could have Ginger knocking on Danko's door asking for some royalties. If he did, he'd have to queue up behind The Donnas who'd be asking money for loaning Danko a couple of choruses. 'She's Drugs' is a prime example with 'She's drugs, she's drugs, just one look and you get addicted' and First Date's 'Yeah yeah yeah yeah do you kiss on a first date?' School playground stuff I'm sure you'll agree. It's certainly not the lyrical mastery one expects from a grown man, this point being non more epitomised by the line 'You've gotta sweet-tooth and I'm your chocolate bar.' Last year I remonstrated against Tokyo Dragon's dreadful wordplay but the big difference between Danko and the Dragons (Good name for a band) is not only the quality of ideas, but also Danko's voice. It's rich and convincing with excellent intonation, which in all absurdity helps gloss over the plethora of drab lines.
For all of the unoriginality and juvenile lyrics 'The Finger,' is a great track, in fact most of this album is laden with capable ideas, albeit borrowed ones. Opener 'Sticky Situation,' 'When will I see you?' and 'Time heals nothing' are particular highlights, the latter opening with one of the grooviest drum beats I've ever heard. Only the title track has a little essence of their own 'would be' direction (If they ever chose to follow one) and thus, in my opinion of course, is the best song on the CD.
'Sleep is the Enemy' isn't even a spectacular album by any stretch of the imagination, but it has that AC/DC, rock and roll, hard rockin' groove, that catchy three-chord formula that has been choked out successfully for over thirty years. How can they go wrong? The easy answer to that is they can't, and they haven't, 'Sleep is the Enemy' is a delicious collection of stylish modern day rock with its roots firmly cemented in the seventies and eighties. On principle this album should have been tied up in a sack with a couple of bricks and dropped off the nearest bridge, but its collection of foot-tapping songs and blatant similarity to its influences only fuels the fire of nostalgia. I should hate it but I don't, I find it strangely addictive and it's going to take an absolute belter of an album to replace this one in my car. And since the dust has been swept from the ole air-guitar I think I'll follow Danko Jones with 'Whole Lotta Rosie,' old habits die hard. Amen