Imagine if The Clash and Bruce Springsteen had hooked up to make some sort of street punk/heartland rock anthem. Wouldn’t that have been something, two colossal sonic forces from opposite ends of the rock spectrum coming together to smash the system and get the masses dancing? Well, you don’t have to imagine such a scenario because “Defiance,” the new one from Oslo’s Tidal Waters sounds precisely how that might have gone.
Sitting somewhere between The Boss’s spirited, fist-in-the-air anthemics and The Last Gang In Town’s confrontational snarl, guitars sear, pianos pound, and sonic salvos are fired off in all directions as the lyrics find that middle ground between the former’s blue-collar rabble-rousing and the latter’s edgy backstreet preacher/agitator deliveries.
But what makes things even better is that the song comes with two alternate takes. The first is just the non-radio edit version, although that does add a full two and a half minutes to this gorgeous rebel rock, but it is the final track of this package, which is interesting.
Under the pseudonym of Papa J & Tidal Water’s Digital Noise, we are treated to a drum and bass take on the song, which renders it into a deft blend of dub vibes and bass grooves, trippy electronics, and atmospheric space. This is a million miles away from the rock and roll excess of the original track, thus proving that a good song can find its feet in any genre or style that it chooses.
“Defiance” might be madness, it might be genius, it is probably both! But I will say this, the music world is a better place for having it around!
Tidal Water
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