The story goes something like one day Matt Radke was watching School Of Rock with his three sons and afterwards felt inspired enough by Jack Black‘s tutelage to go out and buy a guitar, much like people having that transient urge to run outside and throw shadow punches up and down steps after watching Rocky.
His son Dee picked up this guitar and became very deft at it, eventually borrowing his younger brother Isaiah‘s bass guitar to join a covers band.
Isaiah, growing resentful of the female attention his sibling was receiving, insisted that, along with youngest brother and drummer Solomon, they start a band themselves, suffixing their surname with a ‘y’.
Radkey was born, managed by their father.
Two EPs, a few singles and with a slot on Later… with Jools Holland already achieved – not to mention playing SXSW, Download and Coachella – they are now on the brink of releasing their first album, ‘Dark Black Makeup‘, which is likely to find itself squatting somewhere between the punk and rock aisles, maybe both, although de facto band spokesperson and bassist Isaiah, who gives off an uncanny Phil Lynnot aura, has said they are “straight up rock”, but being called punk is “cool”.
Raised in Missouri, their homeschooling gave them extra time to imbibe daily the sounds of Led Zeppelin, Misfits, the Ramones et al. and the early track ‘Romance Dawns‘ has a Zeppelin-inspired intro that rushes heavily on and away, perhaps to gain distance from the “fire that is running coming in here”, before settling down into a rhythmic Black Keys pace. The effect is exhilarating, with weighty baritone vocals that belie singer Dee’s youth (he’s the oldest at 21).
The harmonies throughout recent single ‘Love Spills‘ ring like something off Arctic Monkeys‘ latest outing – not surprising when you consider that the album (Radkey’s) was recorded in Sheffield with ‘AM‘s producer Ross Orton – whilst ‘Le Song‘s taunting “nah nah nah nahs” and appeals to “come a little bit closer” (only to be rewarded with the taunts again) are battering, puerile fun.
As gifted and tight as Radkey are at loud, rapid drums, bass and guitar, when they slow down and loosen up on the melodious ‘Hunger Pain‘, revealing their needy side with the anxious “be my weakness, please don’t run”, it displays a strength and an album peak of deep feeling. Sweet, tender moments aren’t really what this band is about though, and it’s quickly on to a darker type of affection in ‘Feed My Brain‘ and confessions of seemingly unrequited desires for amour with a teacher he’s thinking about every night, never letting out of his sight. Ominous.
Insecurities resurface on ‘Sank‘, possibly still singing to ‘Feed My Brain’s object of desire, stomping along with big chords and quite disturbing threats of revenge. It’s unclear whether Radkey have ever heard of or heeded Picasso’s alleged adage that “good artists borrow; great ones steal”, but either way ‘Glore‘ is an excellent attempt at Motörhead‘s ‘Ace of Spades‘ and feels like it should be the album’s deafening denouement. But it takes the penultimate spot and the following ‘Feel‘ sounds underwhelming by comparison.
There is nothing intricate about punk rock (does it care?) and consequently nothing overall convoluted about ‘Dark Black Makeup’. The structures are predictable each time, the sounds often derivative of their influences, and any potential for inventive middle eights filled up by guitar solos, adroit and possibly stolen from Jimmy Page‘s book when his back was turned. Still, none of this really matters because beyond each members’ distinct hairstyle – afro, mohawk, dreadlock in case you were wondering – denim and plaid allegiance, there is enough tempting originality in this threesome to give them a second, third and so on listen.
Back in the early 1970s on the outskirts of London, John Weller took to managing his son Paul’s fledgling band The Jam; a trio that went on to rearrange the chaos of punk rock forever, at least in Britain. With some parallels in place, it remains to be seen how much of a real impact this filial arrangement can have on the music scene.
It’s unlikely to be as deep as Paul Weller‘s group but, based on this debut album, all the loud, distorted notes are positively charged up in the right direction.
