Danko Jones
Sleep Is The Enemy

THE REVIEW

Here is one of the few human beings capable of being the cocky rocker with an attitude who in return gives you energy and fun in abundance, and his live performances are proof of this. Danko Jones is not a musical genius and never will be, he knows it well and actually takes care not to be so. Sweat, impact, immediacy, insolence, and sexual charge are his weapons, and he knows how to use them brilliantly.

"SLEEP IS THE ENEMY" is his fourth album, the most immediate and catchy of his discography where the sharp riffs of his guitar go hand in hand with melodies and refrains that get stuck in your head from the first listen. After a debut that went completely unnoticed, his career changed direction with "Born a lion," a 2002 album that perfectly blended rock'n'roll with hard rock and blues, in the form of fast and urgent songs. In the subsequent "We sweat blood" (2004), the sound becomes a little grittier, getting closer to seventies hard rock.

DANKO JONES, named after the leader, is a trio completed by John Calabrese on bass and Damon Richardson on drums, who recently left the group, though. Danko Jones's sound is a mix of hard rock'n'roll played with punk vehemence in which are embedded the raucous and typically rock'n'roll fun lyrics where attraction for sex and women dominate, although there are some more serious topics, but treated with irony and detachment. It's impossible to stay still with the rock attack of "STICKY SITUATION" and its ignorant refrain. "BABY HATES ME" seems to come straight out of a KISS seventies album. "DON'T FALL IN LOVE" is melodic and full of clap-hands with a banal, stupid but damn catchy lyric. Power of rock'n'roll. "SHE'S DRUGS" is punkish and fast as well as "INVISIBLE", featuring a welcomed guest on second vocals: none other than JOHN GARCIA, former voice of the great KYUSS. More rhythmic "THE FINGER" and "FIRST DATE", melodic "WHEN WILL I SEE YOU", unusual "TIME HEALS NOTHING" that opens with almost disco beats and "SLEEP IS THE ENEMY", final all-out assault, almost hardcore in execution and vocals.

If you like rock without too many frills, the kind that can make you tap your foot and shake your head, listen to DANKO JONES, and if you have the chance to catch one of his concerts, don't miss it, you'll leave entertained and sweaty. The character may seem a bit braggart and over the top but surely comes across as more genuine and credible than many of today’s bands and small groups, intent on parodying the greats of the past.