In 2007, Dash Rip Rock put a cultural spin on the party time cowpunk scene with Hee Haw Hell, a narrative concept album/rock opera Dante's Inferno. It was ambitious and fun. Their latest, Call of the Wild, is lighter in the ambition department, but seems much heavier on the fun.
In a sense, the guys have once again given us a concept album, but it's a light concept. Call of the Wild is a record that pays tribute to the bands that played the bar circuits in the Deep South throughout the '70s; bands that were intent two things - partying and making sure that the crowds they were entertaining were happy and drunk. Dash Rip Rock have made their name throwing similar shows from 1984 on, and it's all too fitting that they make a record that pays tribute to the bands that paved their way.
As would be expected, any record that tries to recapture this gritty scene is raunchy in both sound and content. Musically, the band traverses a broad, hot terrain populated with dirty garage punk that meanders into full-blown country rock on tracks like "Call of the Wild" and "Don't Let The Party Stop," with brief forays into spaced out countrified funk with songs like "Everybody's Gettin' Hooked Up Tonight," and bizarre lounge with "The Party's Over."
Dash Rip Rock frontman wrote Bill Davis penned most of the tunes with Southern folk artist John Preble (who also play piano), and I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for this; the result is so surreal and debauchery laden that one can only imagine that the songwriting sessions were positively surreal and possibly terrifying as well.
If one were to pick one song that encapsulates the hard partying vibe of the whole record, it would have to be "Party 101," a helpfully educational track that breaks down exactly how one should be partying along with this record, and as the guys delivering the lesson have honed their skills over many years doing exactly this, it's best to pay attention.
The bonus track on the album is a raunchified cover of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab," and it's raw and rocking, infused with the same energy that carries the album and the party along.
Because this album is all about partying at high speeds and at high volumes, it's a record suited just for that. It's perfect for playing loud at parties, for playing loud on one's way to parties, and for playing loud while thinking about partying. Perhaps the only time Call of the Wild is inappropriate would be on the morning after a party, when something less energetic and more soothing is necessary.
Released August 3, 2010
