Band
Dirty Americans
Title
Strange Generation
Type
LP/EP
Company
LiquorAndPoker Music
YOR
2005
Style
Hard Rock
Popular Reviews
Dirty Americans - Strange Generation - 2005 - Liquor & Poker
Track Listing1. "No Rest" 2 - "Car Crash" 3 - "Strange Generation" 4 - "Burn You Down" 5 - "Time In Space" 6 - "Give It Up" 7 - "Deadman" 8 - "Control" 9 - "Deep End" 10 - "Way To Go" 11 - "Light-Headed" 12 - "Chico" 13 - "We Were Young" |
Those who dip their feet in the modern rock pool from time to time might remember a band called The Workhorse Movement. A strange variation of the then-trendy rap-metal movement, the band apparently imploded after doing time on the road opening for various flavor of the week nu-metal/ modern rock acts. But people noticed something different about The Workhorse Movement: Unlike many of their nu-metal peers, who seemed to have never checked out any music older or less mainstream than Korn, they seemed to realize that musical diversity meant more than just throwing a simplistic riff over a hip hop beat, and peppered their music with the odd rock influence from the 1970’s or even earlier.
Fast forward to 2005: The Workhorse Movement is no more, but three of the former band members (plus a new drummer) have ditched the rap influence, added loads of Me Generation features to their sound and image, and re-christened themselves The Dirty Americans. The band’s press material makes much of their seventies-derived sound (which idiot music critics will likely pigeonhole as ‘80’s-derrived, as they do pretty much anything with guitar solos and intelligible vocals) and the use of retro imagery even on my sparse promo copy of Strange Generation borders on ridiculously self-conscious. So for all those fans (myself included) who clamor for anything that smacks of the surprisingly creative and diverse era of rock that was the 1970’s, are these guys our saviors? Not quite, I’m afraid.
Opening cut “No Rest” rumbles along simply but brilliantly with a pounding triplet groove, and a catchy chorus. “Car Crash” really does sound like a musical product of the Motor City, which is repeatedly pointed to as the band’s home in their press material. The title track? What’s this I hear? It sure as hell don’t sound ‘70’s (though the bio once again says otherwise). In fact, it sounds like the best song the friggin’ Foo Fighters never wrote, complete with vocals that are a dead ringer for Dave Grohl for cryin’ out loud! Not bad, but come on guys- you’re supposed to be a seventies-type band (so says your bio, again!). If you’re gonna go around trying to be some sort of living, breathing musical time machine, ya gotta stay in character, damnit! Anyway, much of the rest is predictable, but welcome old-school riffage, although the recording reeks of Pro Tools and digital modeling amps in places. The songs, with the exception of a couple of mellow ones (these guys can’t do ballads for beans, I’m sorry), are fine. The problem, as you might have guessed by now, is the sort of second-guessed nature of its presentation. As much as I enjoy portions of "Strange Generation", there is something safe, predictable, and self-consciously pandering in it’s retro mechanisms, making it seem like a pre-packaged, marketing age imitation, rather than the real thing (kind of like a heavier Lenny Kravitz). Being a ‘70’s rock nut like few twenty-somethings I know, I really wanted to like this disc. And it’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just that for some reason, my cynicism towards modern, demographic-based mass-marketing raises a red flag even as I try to groove along to this stuff.
Rating: 5.5
--Vinaya 11.16.05