We Sweat Blood reviews

[GBV]

from winnipeg sun via canoe.ca.
the habs and the hab-nots, the thing says he's a montreal man. ah duh.


Friday, October 17, 2003

Danko Jones gets bloody
By DARRYL STERDAN
Winnipeg Sun
WE SWEAT BLOOD
Danko Jones
(Universal)

If Danko Jones were an animal, what would he be? Easy -- a shark.

Just as sharks are built to do nothing but swim and eat, it seems the Montreal blues-rocker has been designed for two elemental functions: Rocking and rolling. Both of which he performs with relentless precision on his hard-charging and aptly titled sophomore CD We Sweat Blood.

Much like last summer's Born a Lion, this is a full-on attack of chunky power-chord blues-rock and garage-punk, fuelled by greasy licks, thumping tom-tom backbeats, throbbing basslines, fist-pumping choruses, lung-scorching screams, musky sweat, hip-shaking choogle and more pickup lines than a pimp convention.

Somewhere during all this, Jones's power trio manage to pay homage to Kiss (the hotter-than-hell Hot Damn Woman), AC/DC (the bad-boy boogie monster Home to Hell), Thin Lizzy (the dusty riff-fest Love Travel), Aerosmith and even Neil Young ("When you dance I can really love," quoth Danko).

Equally important, though are the things that aren't here -- We Sweat Blood has no bells, no whistles, no frills, no fat and no ballads to compromise its single-minded power and feral intensity.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the CD store ..

[rocky]

Ah G, u fooled me, i thought that danko was a hab fan for a sec there. I love the habs. N E hoo that writer from Wpg. needs a little geography lesson

[Tidyman]

We might as well make this the thread for all the WSB reviews we come across. Here's one from www.lordsofmetal.nl.


Danko Jones - We Sweat Blood
Bad Taste Records


Michiel B.: Last month the single “I Want You” was already a warm-up for Danko Jones' new album ”We Sweat Blood”. For those of you who already own it's predecendent “Born A Lion” or have already seen Danko Jones play live at several club shows or festivals I think your first impression of “We Sweat Blood” might be that the album is rather kind and sweet. With this I refer mostly to both the lyrics which used to be slightly offensive (the quote “If you wanna know how to play the blues, get yourself a woman” might be the best example in this) but now the album seems to contain a lot of love songs (the songs “Forget My Name”, “I Want You”, “Hot Damn Woman” and “Love Travel” in particular) and besides that the production is rather neat and clear compared to Danko's live sound.

For those who still have make acquaintance with this Canadian band I can imagine they'll see some parallels with bands such as Gluecifer, The Hives and our very own Peter Pan Speedrock (with whom Danko Jones released a 10” split lately). In other words it's just a nice piece of rock & roll/blues/speedrock. It's too bad that “We Sweat Blood” is already finished after only 35 minutes because the more I listen to it the better I tend to like it. “We Sweat Blood” will hit the stores on October 6th and in November and December the band comes to Europe on tour. You’d better check them out!

Judge M.'s verdict: 80/100

[Tidyman]

And here's another one taken from Caramel City's own free bi-weekly entertainment rag NOW magazine. The four N's is the record's rating, with five being the highest possible.

DANKO JONES WE SWEAT BLOOD (UNIVERSAL)
NNNN

The upside of being on a never-ending European road trip playing 200-plus shows a year for massive crowds of hollering drunk Scando-punks is that you eventually become a wickedly tight rock 'n' roll band like Danko Jones. The hard-slamming We Sweat Blood finds the Jones boys ascending to AC/DC levels of pounding economy, bashing away with machine-like precision, walloping power and requisite tongue-thrusting swagger. The pace is relentless, and not a note or word is wasted. This is definitely not Born A Pussy.

TIM PERLICH

[GBV]

NME has a thumbs-up review of We Sweat Blood.
I'll type 'er up later and post.

[GBV]

Glowing review in today's Toronto Star.
I swear I'll type the above two here.

(Just wishin there was 90 minutes in an hour . . .).

[Tidyman]

Geebz, dude you've gotta post that Toronto Star review, I'd love to read it!

Dobbs included NME's reaction in the last Danko Jones mailout, so I think you can skip that one.

[Sac]

If you guys want to hear some nice reviews from over here in Sweden, I can tell you; Everybody love Danko Jones! Every magazine, newspaper, radio channel and TV program who menitons Danko and his awsome crew, atleast have a dozen of supelatives in the same sentence (ok, maby not that much but almost)! The biggest swedish rock mag "close-up magazine" gave them a third place! I haven't seen a singel review giving the new album less than 4/5 score!

The "I want you" singel i currently on place 37 in the singellist, among shit like Evanescence, Westlife and Sean Paul, and the album is at a rocking 24:th place!!!!

Its going up up up

[rocky]

All that i can say is, Sweden Rawks!!!!

[GBV]

Tidyman: Believe it or not, not everyone here subscribes to the danko e-mails (hand up here!).

toronto star review, found it on their site:

DANKO JONES

We Sweat Blood (Universal)

Danko Jones didn't exactly skimp on the riffs or the raunch for 2002's beefy Born A Lion, but both are in unprecedentedly abundant supply — even by Danko Jones standards — on the superpowered Toronto trio's second official album release. Scorchingly heavy but swimming in unstoppable hooks from start to finish, We Sweat Blood is at once the rawest and the most refined piece of work Jones and the band that bears his name have put down on tape. Economical blues-rock monsters like "Forget My Name" and "Heartbreak's A Blessing" are old hat for Danko, but the explosive choruses and extra sonic detail found in the showstoppers "Dance" and "Love Travel" signal a definite push forward on the songwriting front. There's considerably more variety than on previous recordings, too. "I Want You" is an irresistably adolescent four-chord return to the band's garage-y beginnings, for instance, while the hair-raising "The Cross" is misanthropic, white-knuckled punk pyschosis par excellence. Now that Torontonians finally seem willing to pay attention to their own, let's hope We Sweat Blood is the album to finally put Danko Jones — still a far more robust draw overseas than on home turf — over the top in Canada.
Ben Rayner

[rocky]

GBV said:

Tidyman: Believe it or not, not everyone here subscribes to the danko e-mails (hand up here!).

Err, I'll stick my nose in here, just in case Tidy's floating in a heated pool somewhere with a bevy of lovlies, hereis the e-mail in question:
...................................................................................
Hi Folks,

WE SWEAT BLOOD, the new Danko Jones full-length, is out and the reviews are in. Critics love DANKO JONES:

NME SAYS:

Danko Jones, hard rocking high voltage Canadian muthaf--ers, might just be
the best band in the world. They look amazing, like homoerotic, barbarian
thugs. They sound mighty, like Status Quo raised on Minor Threat. And they
make NME want to kidnap indie dullards and carve the name 'Danko Jones' in
their milky white flesh. 'Strut' sounds like Van Halen if they weren't poncy
latex ponces, while 'Forget My Name' is the finest slice of macho sexual
paranoia since the scene in Conan The Barbarian where Arnie fails to seduce
the foxy goblin.

Listening to Danko Jones makes NME feel like Patrick Bateman on angel dust.
Sleep well indie dullards...
8/10

NOW Magazine says

The hard-slamming We Sweat Blood finds the Jones boys ascending to AC/DC levels of pounding economy, bashing away with machine-like precision, walloping power and requisite tongue-thrusting swagger. The pace is relentless, and not a note or word is wasted.

Four stars!

Read more reviews, in many languages, here:

www.badtasterecords.se/records.asp?id=196

or visit Bad Taste Records mini DJ site at

www.badtasterecords.se/microsites/we_sweat_blood/

NEW DATES

24-Oct POR Lisbon, Musicais
25-Oct POR Porto, Teatro Sa da Bandeira
(http://www.portoeventos.com/teatrosadabandeira/index.htm)
28-Oct UK London, Islington Carling Academy showcase at 19.30
29-Oct NL Utrecht, Tivoli (friends only show) Gratis concert

VENUE CHANGE

28-Nov SP Barcelona -KGB (*new venue)

Stockholm and Helsinki shows are both SOLD OUT!

SITE UPDATE

As promised, the Danko Site will be updated in the near future (it's been hard to hook up with the boys since they're constantly on the road whereas I'm stuck in Toronto)... soon, soon! A bunch of you have been sending me photos from various live gigs. I'm asking that you not send anything at this time as it fills my mail box up real quick. I'm hoping that the new site will have a member area where people will be able to upload stuff and other fans can comment. Specifics have not yet been decided but when I have more news, you'll get it. Until then, hold onto your photos!

That's all the DJ news I have for now.

OTHER MUSIC NEWS

This mailout sees the return of a feature that used to be in the old Danko mailouts I did a few years back: my random ramblings on whatever's getting a rise out of me on the music front.

THE CONSTANTINES are a Toronto-based band that are ready to bust out. Their recent sold out local shows are sure to hailed as among the best concerts of the year. The incredible and seemingly infallible Three Gut Records has been pushing the band in their native land and USA'n label Sub Pop are distributing the band's recent SHINE A LIGHT CD in America. If you like Rock and Roll (and I know you do!), you should pick up any of the Cons releases. You won't be disappointed.

The band's official site is at www.constantines.ca/

Non-Americans would be wise to visit Three Gut Records (http://www.threegutrecords.com) to order directly from the label that discovered them.

Americans should check out www.subpop.com for info.

From their latest CD, here's an mp3 of "Nighttime Anytime It's Alright":

www.subpop.com/multimedia/Nighttime_Anytime_Its_Allright232.mp3

And here's a link to "On to You," also from Shine A Light:

www.subpop.com/multimedia/On_To_You234.mp3

Blisteringly good reviews of all Cons material can be found at pitchforkmedia.com, allmusic.com, or just about any english language publication worth its salt, music-wise.

The band is presently on the road. Smart Americans in Boston, Philly, NY, MI, OH, GA, VA, and NC, among other places will truck their asses to hip venues.

Gig dates are here:

constantines.ca/tour2.php

The band absolutely smokes live. As amazing as their albums are (and they are impressive), they don't compre to the live experience. Do whatever you have to do to see them play. You won't regret it. Tell them Dobbs sent ya.

Out,

[GBV]

I really love how they cut out the "born a pussy" part.

The line, "If yer gonna do it do it right" rings a bell.

[GBV]

those constantines dudes are opening for this band called guided by voices, nov. 14 toronto.

[rocky]

GBV said:

those constantines dudes are opening for this band called guided by voices, nov. 14 toronto.

Well G does this mean that you will be breaking your mass-attendance record of 21 . U prolly know this (can't fool the G-man)but on that umusic site there is a GBV section, just click 'artists' and under the "G", bingo.

[Tidyman]

Great review in the Toronto Star! Probably the best I've read so far. That guy Ben Rayner obviously listened to WSB more than once or twice before he wrote his review, and he sounded familiar with DJ's older stuff too. Thanx GBV.

Yeah, it's too bad he excluded the "this is definitely not Born A Pussy" part when he copied that review. That's kind of a funny reference to one of the best Danko Jones articles I've ever read. The article was from last year some time when they were touring behind Born A Lion. I'll include a link to the full article at the end, but the relevant part is this little story Danko told to the interviewer:

"The European press is always good for a few laughs, whether it's probing dietary tendencies or uncovering the hidden political subtext in love-gone-wrong songs, as Danko Jones is discovering.

"This German journalist who looked kinda like Marilyn Manson asked, "So Danko Jones, your album is called Born A Lion. If, like Lenny Kravitz, you make millions of dollars, will your next album be called Born A Pussy, because you will be making pussy music like Lenny Kravitz?'

"We were all laughing too hard to even try answering that one."


www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2002-09-12/cover_story.php

[Tidyman]

Here's another review of WSB from a free Brit music mag called Logo. It is an album review, although the guy spends little time actually talking about the album...



Danko Jones
"We Sweat Blood"
(Bad Taste)
Released: 20 October 2003

***1/2

Earlier this year no less a figure than Jesse Malin exhorted the crowd in Glastonbury’s new band tent to “whatever else you do, check out Danko Jones.” Those of us already inducted into the cult didn’t need to be told, but the many blank faces revealed that this is a band in need of a few props. Blame the fact that their vessel of choice is part swamp-blues, part high-octane boogie and ALL dirty, idiot-savant garage, or blame the fact that they’re Canadian and we still can’t forgive them for giving us Bryan Adams, whatever, if you’re a neophyte you will never have heard anything quite like them. Danko himself hollers like he’s been to that crossroads and didn’t like what he saw, while their buzzsaw guitars are a threat to whole forests, all of which reminds us that The Hives are due to deliver something soon; they’re going to have to go some to even match - let alone improve upon - the power and the glory of ‘We Sweat Blood’.

Cliff Roberts

THE SCORE

***** Excellent, A Must-Have.
**** Very Good. Give It A Listen.
*** Great In Its Genre.
** Just OK.
* Weak

[Tidyman]

And here's another from a guy from Uptown magazine out of Winnipeg who wants to make it abundantly clear he's a Born A Lion fan. The 'B' is the CDs rating.



Danko Jones
We Sweat Blood
(Universal)

B

His name is Danko Jones. He dresses in black. He sweats blood. He plays blues-based rock ’n’ roll. His band is a lean, mean, three-piece machine. Their name is Danko Jones, too. They dress in black. Like him, they sweat blood. They’re huge in Europe. Their new album, We Sweat Blood, rocks. Not as much as their first album, Born a Lion. But it still rocks. In…short…sharp… bursts… it rocks. Danko Jones keeps it simple. Sometimes their songs sound similar. Sometimes they repeat them-selves. They like women. They believe in rock ’n’ roll. They don’t like being hurt by women. But they still rock. Call it primal minimalism. Call it AC/DC meets Nirvana. Call it an update of ZZ Top. Call it what you will… Danko Jones sweats blood. Their new album rocks. But not as much as Born a Lion.

John Kendle

[GBV]

From The Record Nov. 6.
(Kitchener-Waterloo paper)

DANKO JONES

We Sweat Blood (Universal)

By the time you finish listening to this album, you'll be sweating blood yourself.

Danko Jones' albums keep getting better, even at a point when they should be flat out of ideas. Then again, more than, oh, a few thousand artists have carved careers around the three basics of hard rockin' good times: sex, sex and sex.

On top of the obvious subject matter of songs like I Want You, Strut, Hot Damn Woman, and Dance, the band has learned how to turn their swagger into dance music, instead of the neck-jerking all-out assault of earlier tracks. They're not getting disco on us by any means -- the big, dumb metallic guitar riffs are tougher than ever -- but rather than just singing about your ass, now they actually inspire you to shake it a bit.

The first single, I Want You, is actually one of the weaker ones here, alongside the (un/intentionally?) hilarious metal of The Cross. Forget My Name, Dance and the title track should be huge rock radio hits that make them as big here at home as they are in Sweden, where they've been giving lessons to the garage rock revival for a couple of years now.

[Mara]

Okies, here's the translation of the review in the Dutch Veronica magazine:

Danko Jones
We Sweat Blood

Raving Guitars, thumping drums and cool one-liners...Danko Jones is the ultimate personification of the holy trinity of sex, drugs and Rock 'n Roll. Thanks to their fantastic gigs, the Canadian trio around singer/guitarist Danko Jones has built up a solid reputation, which is once again confirmed on We Sweat Blood. Rough rock about the pleasures of the city, chicks, and so on. That makes for irresistable songs such as Heartbreak's a blessing, Home to Helle and The Cross. Actually, we can only think of one disadvantage: al that goodness lasts way too short... Hot Damn wat a cool record!

[Tidyman]

Another glowing review. Thanks for that Mara. That's the only thing I can find wrong with WSB: it's brevity! Imagine if these guys put out an album that was 50 minutes long? Or even a double-album?

Let's balance things out a bit. Here's a review taken from a slightly hipper-than-thou brit mag called *ahem* The Beaver. It’s the first middling review of WSB that I’ve come across.

DANKO JONES
WE SWEAT BLOOD
The first thing you notice about this album is the rather disturbing photo of the band on the back cover. Trying to look as aggressive as possible with their furrowed eyebrows and snarls, they come across as not so
much intimidating, but as a bit desperate to look so. Maybe it is because of the trials and tribulations encountered on the Toronto rock circuit from which they emerged. Yet, having expected a Scandinavian Death metal wannabe, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Danko Jones was not as bad as I thought it would be. It could have been worse- some new breed of neo nu-metal may have just sent me over the edge. Any way, Danko Jones’ band plays stoner punk rock music tempered by Fu Manchu style vocals- but more high pitched. The lyrics are a heady mix of sex and violence, though to their credit, the two are not (at least as far as I can tell) mixed on the same tracks. Does it sound like a recipe for disaster? Or perhaps a potential landmark album for the genre? The word that describes the album best is 'average'. In a favourable setting, it can be immensely listenable. You could even find yourself nodding your head along to it. The press release describes the album as being 'metallic blues-punk power' whatever that might mean. It certainly has attitude, but do not expect them to make a big impact. Hopefully their next outing will be more adventerous

IB RASHEED


And hopefully Mr. Rasheed’s next outing will have the correct spelling of ‘adventurous’. --Todd