When Damn The Wolves previous musical incarnation announced that they were calling it a day, there was a palpable sense of loss in the air, at least amongst those more discerning followers of the grassroots music scene. So when the trio returned under this new guise, it was as if the balance of the music world had been restored. That was my reading of the mood, anyway.
Balance runs through the music of these cursed lupines, just as it was something that I would wax lyrical about regarding their formative musical vehicle—balance between the energy of rock and the more addictive qualities of pop. Balance between accessible lyricism and having something to say; of course, it’s not The Gettysburg Address; it doesn’t have to be; this is, after all, rock and roll we are talking about here. And balance between tight playing and more ornate stylistics, highlighting their ability to throw some neat sonics at us, but only if they serve the song, not the ego. And all of those things are present in Damn The Wolves new single, “Reckless.”
I have always advocated the three-piece rock band as the finest musical form, and the reasons for that are apparent here. With everyone having an important job to do and nothing to hide behind, the guitar lines are brilliantly rhythmic whilst also able to switch to searing lead breaks when called for; the bass lines are both melodic and rhythmic, filling the middle ground better than most rhythm guitarists do (what even is a rhythm guitarist? Is it the equivalent of a chuggy cellist or a pianist who only plays the white notes?). The drums are propulsive and wonderfully unfussy, doing their job to perfection.
I’m saying that everyone is doing their job and doing it brilliantly. And if their job remit also includes firing off killer songs, ones that are powerful yet poised, groovesome and gracefully done, melodic and muscular, well, they Damn well do that too.
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