If you take the best ingredients of Free, Bad Company, Aerosmith, Mick Taylor-era Stones, Humble Pie and Faces, throw in a little Zeppelin and give it a good shake what kind of album would you have? 'Southern Harmony and Musical Companion' by The Black Crowes perhaps?
"My Dynamite", the eponymous debut of these young Melbourne groove kings, may well also fit the description.
This debut from My Dynamite is probably the first release in some 20 years that for me has really captured the essence of the good, old fashioned Classic Rock.
If you dig any of the bands referred to, then I simply cannot fathom how you could not totally get immersed in this release.
Opening with a cool groove and pithy soloing, "Take It Or Leave It" leads off with a take no prisoners rock 'n roll attittude that conjures up images of dark, smoky nightclubs where serpentine, bare chested rockers in leather jeans once held court.
It’s all familiar territory but it’s territory we love to revisit when it sounds this good. The follow up tracks "Inside Out" and "If We're Livin`" maintain the feel and the interplay between guitarists Jorge Balas and Benny Wolf is pretty damn tasty.
Singer Pat Carmody is an amazing vocal stylist, recalling the smooth-as-gravel-dipped-in-honey vocals of giants of the genre like Steve Marriot, Chris Robertson and seventies Rod Stewart.
It's on tracks like "If We're Livin'", "Dirty Game", "Watch Yourself Grow" and the anthemic sing-along "Raise Your Glasses" however where his vocal is more reminiscent of a younger, Bourbon fueled, East-era Jim Barnes.
Just over half way through My Dynamite is the bluesy album set piece "Singing Stormy Weather", a slow burning ballad of classic proportions, full of impassioned vocals and ballsy guitar work.
It's followed by rootsy yet still highly melodic piece "Big Attraction", while "All that She Brings" will make you want to take your car for a long drive with the windows down and the volume cranked way up.
Getting their swamp on for the closer, My Dynamite deliver some cajun spiced, almost-zydeco in the shape of "Fork in Your Tongue". It's a number that shows the range they are capable of and whets the appetite for more.
In a perfect world, the self titled debut from My Dynamite would be lighting up the charts, with many of the songs in constant play on both radio and satellite music channels, easily becoming the feel good rock album of the summer of 2012.
Well, we all know that's probably not going to happen, but it's a damn shame because My Dynamite is one hell of a brilliant Classic Rock album.
Clocking in at 10 tracks and just over 40 minutes, where the band may have had a tendency to - and are clearly more than capable of - jamming out some songs, they’ve instead opted for an album of punchy, hip shaking killer rock.
R'nR is alive and well in Australia, do yourself a favor, don't miss "My Dynamite".
Highly Recommended.
01 - Take It Or Leave It
02 - Inside Out
03 - If We're Livin'
04 - Dirty Game
05 - Watch Yourself Grow
06 - Raise Your Glasses
07 - Singing Stormy Weather
08 - Big Attraction
09 - All That She Brings
10 - Fork In Your Tongue
Patrick Carmody - Lead Vocals
Jorge Balas - Guitar, Vocals
Benny Wolf - Guitar, Vocals
Travis Fraser - Bass
Simon Aarons - Drums
MY DYNAMITE – MY DYNAMITE (2012)
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