HARD
FIXED – The DT’s
(Estrus)
The
latest project for ex-Monomen/Watts mainman Dave Crider is a distinctly greasy
nod to hard soul and might just rate as the best thing he’s ever done.
The DT’s are a four-piece (guitar, drums, keys and vox) out of Bellingham
in Washington State. They’ve been around since 2001 and an early promo
disc preceding this album showed them to be anything but a 
quickie
part-time project.
Fronted by the steamy pipes of Diana Young-Blanchard, the DTs will no doubt
draw comparisons to the Now Time Delegation. That’s a valid line to draw
– both bands have commanding singers, soulful material built on a rock
base and Tim Kerr produced both discs – but the DT’s can stand on
their own two feet. (Or is that eight feet, with four people? Whatever.)
With due respect to the other band members (guitarist Crider and rock solid
drummer Phil Carter), there are two killer apps at work here: A thick bed
of keyboards, courtesy of Patti Bell, that belies the lack of a bass player,
and the wonderful voice of Diana Young-Blanchard, bobbing and weaving its
way through proceedings. She may not have the range of The Bell Rays’
Lisa Kekaula (who does?) but she’s not far off and sits hand-in-glove
with the material and the band around her. Plus, although it’s early
days in the listening stakes, these guys might just have better songs.
Maybe the so-called Garage Revival/New Rock Revolution is poised to plumb
more soulful depths (or maybe I’m just getting on) but it seems that
bands like the DT’s are adeptly placed to make the most of whatever happens.
Just blasting away is fine for much of the time and the DT’s lack nothing
in power, but sometimes the rawk goes down better when it’s matched with
swing and feeling.
Eight originals and two covers and it clocks in at just over 35 minutes –
but if your CD player is like mine, there’s always the repeat button.
If you have a hankering for greasy R ‘n’ B, this is probably going
to fit the bill. Goes without saying that it rocks. “Breakdown”
out Accadaccas AC/DC in both departments (and Ms Young-Blanchard out-sings
that Geordie banshee any day).
No brownie points lost for recording at Egg Studios in Seattle, either. It
sure sounds nice and warm.
Temperance societies preach that those uncontrollable shakes known as the
DT’s usually follow a bout of hard drinking. Next time you reach for
the bottle of hard stuff, you could do worse than have “Hard Fixed”
as your soundtrack. – The Barman
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