Over the course of the past few years, there has been a rock revival with several rock groups meshing '70s rock sensibilities with country-based song structures. Brooklyn natives The Damnwells have caught onto this neo-wave of catchy rock and do a fine job on their major label debut, "Bastards of the Beat."
The quartet offers 13 tracks, and many of them are so infectious that the listener will need a crowbar to get each chorus out of their head.
"What You Say" and "Kiss Catastrophe" are delightful throwbacks to the sugar coated power-pop choruses of Big Star with a side of the Gin Blossoms mixed in for good measure.
While the band's basic setup consists of two guitars, bass and drums, The Damnwells are not afraid to use extra instruments in the studio. The use of organ and piano on "I'll Be Around" is invaluable and the studio-generated sound effects give a melancholy drawl to "The Lost Company," a track that also benefits from excellently harmonized backing vocals.
In addition to their catchy Replacements-esque songs, The Damnwells can also handle somber love songs, like the meaningful "I Will Keep the Bad Things From You," which sounds like an authentic love song because of Alex Dezen's (guitar/vocals) solid voice and the band's minimalist instrumentation.
Dezen wrote all 13 tracks on "Bastards of the Beat" and shows that he not only has a talent for catchy power pop songs, but also acknowledges the band's many influences while keeping an original sound that is prevalent in every song.
The album does have a weak spot, on the album's eighth track, "The Sound," which sounds less like an American rock song and more like it could be the next big Goo Goo Dolls' hit.
But that's only a minor complaint. "Bastards of the Beat" puts The Damnwells in the same league, if not the same breath, as their country-based power pop contemporaries Wilco, the Thrills and Superdrag. If they stick to their sound, The Damnwells have unlimited potential and "Bastards of the Beat" is an excellent rock/pop record.
