El Scorcho

I know I keep talking about it, but you're gonna hear about it again anyway. Last night was the second show for local band The Whiskey Diaries. The show was free, you shoulda been there, it was solid. Very solid. Broken beer bottles, wobbly bar furniture being used as a stage, and one helluva rockin' show. On the surface, these guys could sound like your garden-variety punk rock 'n' roll band, but then you hear the vocals, and whatever you thought is turned on it's head. Then you see them live, and you start to struggle to pigeonhole them, but you just can't do it. Obviously, that's a good thing. They think that what they're doing isn't being done in Detroit, and they're right. The range of influences between these five guys is staggering, but it all gels in the end: the '70s rock that comes through in the occasional short guitar solo, the pop angst crossed with "Rise Above" era Black Flag vocals, and the metal. Yes, the metal. I'm not talking about these newer crappy pop bands that people call metal. Nothing like Staind, or any of that crap. The bass brings to mind AC/DC, and that's no accident. All the important facets of punk rock and rock 'n' roll are well-represented here, and the band-members' thorough appreciation of the music is coming through in their own music. Oh, and they finished with a smokin' cover of "Search & Destroy" from the Stooges. Jason, the singer didn't have to do much to try and imitate Iggy, in fact, I'm starting to think that if you really feel it, you're not trying to imitate him, it just happens.

I'm a streetwalkin' cheetah with a heart fulla napalm...