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The dark art of the cliché dictates that any review of a full throttle rock n’ roll band from Argentina has to mention beef, so let’s get it out of the way then. 42 Decibel are from Argentina, and by Lucifer’s beard they possess an almighty amount of beef. Beefy riffs, beefy chords, and beefy rhythms. Beef. That’s Argentina, not Australia. They might walk, talk and, I’ll be damned, sound the closest to Bon Scott era AC/DC as I’ve recently heard (Rhino Bucket excluded, as they are, well, Rhino Bucket after all) but they indeed hail from the land of beef, the hand of God, and Super Mario (Mario Kempes, that is). If AC/DC ceased for you when Bon died, then check 42 Decibel out. The boogie of ‘Powerage’ and the energy of ‘Let There Be Rock’, all mixed in with the devilish wink of an eye from a band that appreciate the simpler things in life, like a good tune for starters. Vocalist Junior Figueroa worships at the altar of Bon Scott, and manages the difficult feat of not actually sounding like a tribute act with aplomb. When he mixes up vocal styles on ‘Dangerous Mess’, it is actually like the spirit of one of Rock’s most missed frontman is flowing through him. Likewise on the spoken, rambling vocal throughout ‘Brawler’, Figueroa will have you checking his passport to check that he is indeed Argentinian, and not a dyed-in-the-wool Aussie. This is boogie infused rock at it’s simplest and purest, nothing fancy at all, but ‘Overloaded’ proves that rock doesn’t need to be intricate to be effective. The boogie shuffle on ‘Roadkiller’ is highly contagious. There’s no point in trying to resist the involuntary head bobbing, just go with it. There are simple, straightforward beats from Nicko Cambiasso on the skins and his bassist compadre Matt Fraga, while Figueroa and fellow guitarist Billy Bob Riley will have you nodding in appreciation. ‘Hot Shot’ is faster paced, and again Figueroa gets as close to Bon Scott as anyone I’ve ever heard. There’s great use of some sizzling slide guitar from Billy Bob Riley on this one, always a welcome addition to any song. The devil does indeed love a bit of slide. 42 Decibel ramp it up a notch or two during the punk intro of ‘Half Face Dead’, which features a rather tasty drum sound from Mr Cambiasso. 2.41 minutes in length, it’s a short, sharp, kick to the nuts. ‘Double Itch Blues’ is the polar opposite. At nearly seven minutes long, it’s a sleazy blues rock romp that ticks all the boxes. This leaves ‘Cannon Fodder’ to round the album off with a sweet, funky sound that bounces around the brain for some time after. ‘Overloaded’ is available now through Steamhammer/ SPV More information on 42 Decibel here Review – Dave Stott]]>
