Review Draw Card - Modern Rivalry 2010

You shouldn't concentrate too much on a bands name, but what the hell do people think when they chose Draw Card as a band name? Did they chose between that and names like Equal Piece, Oposite Dice and Pawned Pawn? Whatever, actually. You shouldn't care too much, no matter how stupid they sound.

Draw Card is an Australian band with Four Brisbane brats that have played a lot of American rock on their boomboxes. This is their first full lenght album and it was released back in 2009 in their home country and only came to us Europeans late this last November. But regardless of its respectable age, which is enough for babys to walk and talk (at least somewhat), the album sound very freash and up for it. I don't think there will be many people sighting "It's SO 2009" when they hear what the Australians have to offer. My guess is that they will move their arms up and down, snapping their fingers - like old pensioners listening to jazz, or something. Actually no, I don't think that. What I do think is that it will attract shouty teen age girls to summer parks where they and teen age guys that have hedgehogs in their hair and pants stolen from hobos will jump around to this music, creating a wavy sea of fans.

Musically 'Modern Rivalry' is just lie American rock use to be - surprisingly positive and very much rock 'n' roll. Catchy. Somewhat straight to the point without too much complications. And just like much other American rock they play with interupted verses, which means they go all in and then take a break, continues in short bursts abd then takes another break before putting it all on the table with the strongest choruses that's achievable. Often this result in great choruses, but also in verses that doesn't get the real flow. This means it's only a sort of half rock flow on the album. Like a long jacket where someone has cut the left side off. It could perhaps fit Harvey Dent after he has become Two-Face but at least me question the practicallity in it. Not that I think it's all shit and annoying, but I feel they do one or two songs too many this way. Maybe one or two more songs with a more coherent flow would have made this album even better.

The vocalist sound like most American rock vocalists, like someone that have a paper towel stuck in his throat. Like Donald Duck with a voice clean enough to sing and articulate good enough to avoid that obvious duckish sound. You might think that I'm thrashing Paul Durkin totally now, but that's really not my intention. I actually think he's really good, perhaps not the greatest in the world but only because he sounds like a well articulated Donald Duck doesn't mean he's awful. I think it suits the music in a way that rattles suits rattle snakes - seriously hard to imagine the whole without it.

The songs on this album are all really good! It's a genuine construction that have resulted in an album that has 14 songs where not a single one feels either bad or as filling. Sure, two of the songs aren't even 25 seconds long, but there's still 45 minutes with 12 full songs and not even once does it feel like elevator music or as filling, and that my friends is something I feel is very unusual. My biggest favorites are probably the introducing Waking up, the fast and heavier Running for Their Lives and the title track and The Sound, the radio hit material Radio and the power ballad One Day at a Time. But as I said all of them are great.

If we were to search with dogs and GPS for things that are wrong we can find the already menthioned chopped up melodies. But also the slaughter of the theme tune from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which starts the fift song, It's On Me. Not that there is anything catastrofaly wrong with it, but it definitely don't sound good. Fortunately it's only 3 seconds long and when the Sergio Leone sound returns later in the song it sounds quite a lot better. It's only that starting tune that isn't making any sense.

The album cover is really nice. The band name is idiotic. And the album is fantastic! One of the best albums released last year and if I had heard it before summarizing last years quality I'd probably been more positive. All though, this album was released in 2009 to start with, so that probably wouldn't have been right either. Card games have never been something for me, but with some old timer jazz, Donald Duck, Two-Face and a rattle snake even cards can be interesting. Quite simply, a sensationally good album!

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Draw Card Modern Rivalry

Draw Card
Modern Rivalry