TRUCKER DIABLO

THE DEVIL RHYTHM

Released 2011

The first thing I thought when I heard this is why the hell has no one told me about this band and then I thought no actually that’s one of the great things about doing this job – someone did – thanks to Darren for that.

What is it now April? A third of the way through 2011 and I already know that this is going to be one of my albums of the year. No question.

When you first hear the opening track - anthem of the year so far ‘Drink Beer Destroy’ you know that you are in for something a little special, what you don’t realise at the time is just how versatile these guys are. The song, like the band takes the best bits of punk, the excitement of sleazy Rock N Roll and a whole case of harmony and combines them to produce what I think is one of the most exciting CDs I’ve heard so far this year. If this song doesn’t get you moving then I’m not sure what you are doing here – it’s that good like Husker Du were a sunset strip band!

‘Juggernaut’ which features the voice of the Almighty and now Thin Lizzy – Ricky Warwick is an obvious choice for a single and has a more modern rock sound and is insanely catchy, but it’s not my favourite here.

When the riff to ‘Stand Up and Fight’ kicks in it sounds so like the Darkness but then you feel pop-punk pull of Green Day and Offspring. The best bit about the Truckers though is that they aren’t afraid to keep the rock in there and for good reason too it adds a great dimension to the songs that in other hands could just be good songs – in the Truckers hands they are great songs.  You can imagine the guys pumping this out to the kids on a huge stage in the middle of a large field at an enormous festival…

The guys prove they can do a bluesy rocker pretty straight on ‘Voodoo’ which just grooves along reminding me a little of the best of bands like Junkyard from back in the day.  Another string to the bow!

It’s so hard to find a fault with an album like this. ‘Big Truck’ rocks out and has the perfect balance to get the kids and the old school rockers hooked. It’s got a huge chorus, wonderful guitar and to these ears at least I’m already thinking that with the right breaks these guys could be seriously big. I don’t think I’ve made that statement before in the Rockpit so I’ll put it in my diary to see if it goes the way of those ‘next big thing’ predictions you used to read in Kerrang every week.

The thrashier (yep they do that too) ‘Never Too Late to Sin’ again show the bands ability to write a good song in any number of genres and whilst I like it it’s sort of the odd man out here, almost like they are doing it because they can!  ‘Dirty Love’ is catchy, groove-based hook-laden Rock N Roll. ‘Black and Blue’ is a solid rocker not to distant from what the Almighty did back in the day. ‘When Angels Die’ simply kicks out the jams in style with a flavour of Monster Magnet-like dirt and closer ‘Rattlehead’ brings home the blues with slide and swagger, it’s a mighty big sound that showcases some great vocals and guitar. 

Hard to find a highlight amongst the highlights, but if pushed it has to be ‘Drink Beer Destroy’. Sounds like a quiet Friday at the Rockpit…

Here’s how it goes – if you buy this there’s a great band that gets to play more great music that hopefully us in the remoter corners of the world will get to see one day! If you live in Northern Ireland – support you local live music scene and tell us all about it!

Mark Diggins