Late last month, rock band Danko Jones released its latest album, Electric Sounds to the masses. The band’s 11th album (and apparently only its second through AFM Records), it is a record that is going to find appeal among a very specific targeted audience. That is due in large part to its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly. The album’s lyrical themes will also appeal to those noted listeners and will be discussed a little later. The record’s sequencing rounds out its most important elements and will also be examined later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of Electric Sounds. All things considered they make Electric Sounds a record that the noted audiences will find worth hearing at least once.
Electric Sounds, the latest album from rock band Danko Jones, is an intriguing new offering from the veteran band, which has been making music together since 1996. It is a record that is certain to find the majority of its appeal among very specific audiences. The audiences in question are the band’s established fan base and guitar rock purists. Throughout the course of the record’s 11 total songs, the arrangements present the energetic, guitar-driven sounds and styles that bridged the big guitar riffs (and equally big hair) of the late 1980s and those that filled the early 1990s. The driving melodies and equally strong vocals are easily likened to works from the likes of Buckcherry just as much to so many other bands of that ilk. At the same time, the arrangements that are exhibited throughout the record are also very familiar for the band’s established audiences according to bassist and band namesake Danko Jones.
He said of the arrangements in an interview, “I’d like to think Electric Sounds falls in line with all our previous albums. Over the years we’ve carved out a sound and we’re sticking to it.”
In other words, the album’s musical arrangements do not exactly break any new ground. To that end, audiences who want more of what the band has turned out all along with get exactly that in regard to the album’s musical arrangements.
The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements also break little new ground for the band and even for the guitar rock realm. As Jones noted in his interview, “When it comes to the lyrics and given our sound, I don’t think we have too much leeway in terms of the subject matter! Our songs are usually about rocking, wanting to rock, enjoying life while rocking, and sometimes I’ll sing about a woman. You can expect zero surprises!”
Zero surprises is exactly what audiences get, lyrically speaking. The songs about women are there in the form of ‘Stiff Competition’ and ‘She’s My Baby’ while the songs about rocking come in the album’s opener and finale respectively, ‘Guess Who’s Back’ and ‘Shake Your City’. The band sings about enjoying life (maybe a little too much) in ‘Get High?’ which yes, does insinuate the joy of getting high. ‘Let’s Make Out’ is also about a woman while also enjoying life in the process of making out with her. ‘Good Time’ is another song about making the most of life, too. Simply put, as Jones noted, there are no surprises here. This record’s lyrical themes are familiar territory for the band and for old school rock fans. The themes that are so commonplace among sleaze rock are on full display as are those that are more common among pure guitar rock. Between the familiarity and accessibility of all of this lyrical content and that of the album’s musical arrangements, the whole therein makes Electric Sounds a record that is sure to engage and entertain the band’s most devoted and established audiences as well as those of pure guitar rock and sleaze rock.
As much as the overall content does to make Electric Sounds appealing for the noted audiences, the sequencing thereof does its own share to entertain said listeners. Throughout the course of the record, the energy remains high while the arrangements’ sounds change just enough to keep things interesting for those who immerse themselves in the presentation. At the same time, the lyrical themes change up just frequently enough to keep things interesting, too. The overall changes in the lyrical themes and the arrangements’ sounds do just enough to give the album an aesthetic appeal that when considered with that of the content itself, makes the overall presentation such that it will work for the noted very specific audiences.
Electric Sounds, the latest album from Danko Jones, is a no-nonsense, straight forward slab of rock and roll that is certain to appeal to the most devoted of the band’s established audiences. It will appeal just as much to pure guitar rock and sleaze rock fans. That is proven in part through 11 musical arrangements that give audiences quite more of what they have come to expect from the band. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements are just as direct and familiar and ensure engagement and entertainment in their own right. The sequencing of that overall content rounds out the most important elements, changing the sounds and themes just enough to keep things interesting from the album’s opening to its end. Each item examined does its own part to ensure that appeal. The whole makes the album a fully charged record that Danko Jones’ most devoted audiences will find enjoyable.
Electric Sounds is available now through AFM Records. More information on the album is available along with all of Danko Jones’ latest news at:
Website: https://www.dankojones.com
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