Reviews

Avenue

Dirt Box Disco TV Sex Show CD

This quartet has been around for a decade now, and apparently, this is their eighth full-length effort. Apparently I haven’t been keeping up with the “new and trending” for a while. Their promo one-sheet lists the BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND as one of their influences (along with the likes of KISS, RAMONES, DAMNED and KERBDOG), so that was an instant thumbs up. Even better is their glorious blend of glam, pop-punk and rock’n’roll. Indeed, being Brits, it’s perhaps hardly surprising that they have much more than a passing musical resemblance to both SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS and COCK SPARRER (at their Shock Troops finest—including “Out On an Island”). Can’t really give ’em much more superlatives than that. Singalong choruses, excellent melodic twin guitars, and layered vocals, and some killer tunes. Not so sure about their threads, or stage monikers, but I guess you can’t have it all.

Dirt Box Disco Rokapokolips CD

This is definitely a “don’t judge a book by its cover” situation. The cover and title of this album come off as something a hair-metal-loving bar band would use. Fortunately, the contents of the album are far from being what one would imagine by looking at said album cover. Instead, what is offered up is some solid, catchy, sing-along punk with subtle rock’n’roll, glam, and Oi! influences that all mesh together quite well without sounding dated. This is the type of album that gets better with every listen, but if I came across it in a record store, I’d sadly pass it over due to the artwork. That’s a shame, because it is actually a pretty good record, but I’m just being honest. Even with modern technology being what it is and almost everything being available at one’s fingertips at all times, sometimes the age-old tactic of checking something out due to what the cover looks like wins out, and in this case that would be a shame.