Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Deep End-Cop This

Relentless Rock Records
2013

AC/DC's "Who Made Who" was the first album I ever bought. I had to sneak it into my house out of fear that if my parents found out I had it they would confiscate it. I could thank my older brother, and his decision to play "Highway To Hell" as loud as humanly possible (of course it was just to piss my parents off) for such condemnation of rock and roll. Of course A) He's now an accountant out in California so obviously it didn't screw him up too much and B) My own kids love AC/DC. I've listened to AC/DC for over 25 years now. As Australian rock and I go way back it does kind of make sense that I don't ever seen to tire of AC/DC-like bands. Heck, even when I went through my faze where I listened to nothing but Christian rock and heavy metal (that didn't last long), I picked up on X-Sinner's "Get It". So yeah, I love down and dirty, AC/DC -style rock. When I fist heard the single "Bigger. Better. Badder." I figured The Deep End would be my kind of band. After all they hailed from Australia and that single came rocking out of my speakers in full-on Bon Scoot mode! Even reading through band's influences like AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Rose Tattoo and Airbourne (a band they've played with) would lead to believe all ten of these tracks would sound pretty similar. Writing this band of as mere clones would be grossly unfair though. With this 10-track album they have gotten meaner and angrier (this one itsn't for the kiddies folks!) while bringing out more of an edge to their dirty rock.Only that single, which is also the opening number, finds lead singer Dale Schober doing his best Bon Scott impersonation. The rest of this album is simply Australian pub rock/ hard rock (and damn good pub/hard rock at that!). Well, "simply" is not the best word for this band. There's nothing "simple" about them. Instead these guys play great hard rock full of hooks and with sweat leads. Any of these "S" words would have worked better: "stone cold", "sweet", "stomping", "sizzling" or "stars". So, what makes these guys tick? What fuels them? I mean besides cold beer and "Sex, Drugs and Rock N' Roll"!
The band's story might sound familiar, but The Deep End really just started out as some friends drinking beer and talking about the bands they liked. One thing lead to another and soon enough a band was formed. They started out playing in a garage. A couple of EPs were knocked out and before too long they were out playing with some of Australia's biggest bands like The Screaming Jets, Hoodoo Gurus and Mental As Anything. That should serve as a lesson to younger bands out there to never give up. Sometimes stardom is just around the corner. Being Australian does mean that bands like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels rubbed off on them. So did Airbourne. The big difference is that unlike Airbourne these young rockers play like they have more conviction. I listen to Airbourne and hear AC/DC clones through and through. I listen to The Deep End and I hear a band that has some serious swagger ( the Black Crowes rocker "No Time To Rest") and the balls to back it up ("Shit Talker"). Despite how this album opens it closes with the sweet, and frankly heavy, number "Run With It". This is classic rock riffs served over face-punching, barroom heavy metal and the result brings one big smile to this old rocker's face! In addition to lead singer Dale Schober (who got the job after pulling off a near perfect impression of Brian Johnson) the band features lead guitarist Drew Suhr, rhythm guitarist Jazz Morrice, bassist Matt Berg and drummer Nick Trajanovski (on the album drums were recorded by Jarrod Medwin). 

Just take one look at those guys. You can't tell me they don't look like a bunch of guys you'd like to party with. Imagine how much better it is to have these guys play real gritty, dirty, rock and roll that's custom made for drinking beer to. That's what The Deep End is all about. Beer drinking and women chasing pub rock/hard rock that's not pretty, but it's oh so sweet to the ears. I'm so glad these guys are more then just another band trying to reinvent "Highway To Hell" or "Back In Black". This debut album is blast and comes highly recommended for fans of (yes) AC/DC, Airbourne, Dirty Looks, Rose Tattoo and other bands that didn't just dress for the part, but walked the talk

http://thedeependrock.bigcartel.com/

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

hell yeah they ROCK !!!!

2:38 PM  
Blogger Andy said...

Stay tuned as I have a interview with the band in the works!

11:35 AM  

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