- More is more with The Damned Things, although that's tinged with irony since they've slimmed down from three to two guitarists in their extended sabbatical since Iconoclast. Back then it blew me out of the water and it has remained a longtime companion. High Crimes is a genuine return to that form as the band continues a long but almost forgotten lineage of groove laden, riff heavy rock. Rolling through the new record, hardcore’s fist swings less often and the bombastic metal is subdued, allowing for an integration of grander ambition and more dynamic song writing flair. On a record that is helmed by Keith Buckley’s engaging lyricism and witty word play, it may seem odd that only two songs feature his screamed vocals. Stepping back from a chaotic ledge however, and furnishing the high room with more than enough exuberant songs ... the only crime is making me wait nine ****ing years for this record.
Buckley’s interjections mark the end of bridges on the album’s opener Cells and channels the good humour prevalent in this group even as it bamboozles us with the next delivery being wrong-un with Something Good sporting a kid chanted hook. Seeing the album open with the two lead singles, I was apprehensive that High Crimes would shoot its load early on and flaccidly limp through until the next peak. That fear was quickly quashed as Invincible's searing guitar lines burst into an emphatic and perfectly nailed key change in the final chorus. Omen's swaggering chugs fragment lead melodies and slinky bass lines in amongst punctuating guitar stabs and then regresses into a plodding, bullish saunter on the organ lacquered Storm Charmer, chiseling the album down into a central pillar. That support beam dabbles with some blues rock, guitar lashes flying in like they were striped across a convict’s exposed back, bleeding through into some psych rock with Buckley’s phase shifted vocals. Had Young Hearts and Keep Crawling between switched in the track listing, the perfect flow would have continued but really, that’s my only gripe and now I’m just being persnickety. This whole album feels like a smile communicated through multi-faceted instrumental brilliance, which is disarming when you delve into the transmissible themes and proses intertwined with a muscular structure.
Iconoclast has aged better than Dorian Grey and Paul Rudd and given more time to digest High Crimes, I think it will be a hard task to pick the better record. With the obvious reigning in of crushing intensity and expansion of the hard rock lore they follow, the sophomore record is a perfect storm in a whiskey glass. Lyricism and vocals leagues above their peers, instrumental performances and multi-tracked guitars that foil each other sublimely, all capped off with a dash of studio magic in the myriad of effects and additional timbres. The Damned Things have solidified their appeal as a band that could dominate the world of rock should they actually decide to put out regular releases. When gifts like this come they must be cherished because when we’ll hear the next one is that much of a mystery, you’re going to need bulk-buy pallets of Scooby Snacks to solve it.
- Matt Lynch.