Link: www.diamond-nights.com
The Inside Pulse:
I’ve heard that Diamond Nights is amazing in concert, but having never seen them live, I can only base my opinion of this band on this, their first full-length album, Popsicle. According to certain sources, they are New York’s answer to The Darkness, which is 100% bona fide crap. The Darkness are a parody, whether or not you can admit it, where I don’t think Diamond Nights are banking on camp to sell records (then again they are banking on nostalgia in that they’re aping the ’70s garage sound). The first thing I was reminded of was stoner rock band Fu Manchu, albeit with a lot more high-pitched vocals. “Destination Diamonds” kicks off the album nicely, in the same way that “Hell on Wheels” kicks off King of the Road. “Saturday Fantastic” reminded me a bit of Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” in the “let’s go out and drink and get stoned with our shag haircuts” tone of it (plus, lead singer Morgan Phalen does kind of favor Phil Lynott in some tracks). “The Girl’s Attractive” calls upon a new wave beat, and although not particularly stellar, it does break up the doldrums at the beginning of the album. However, after that track they kick in again, and are not alleviated until “Dirty Thief,” which picks up nicely, as I’m totally reminded of Fu Manchu. The album closes with “Ordinary Life,” which has enough glam-rock ballad action going on to resurrect Marc Bolan.
Positives:
This is perfectly tolerable throwback garage rock music. I could listen to this on a regular basis and not feel the need to set my hair on fire. It’s kind of fun at parts, and the songs that are not anything special are more mediocre than outlandishly repugnant. It will more than likely make an appearance now and then when I’m driving. Thanks Gloomchen!
Negatives:
The middle of the album lags a bit, and I ended up skipping through tracks 3-5 after a minute or two in order to keep myself from getting tired. You’d think that after all of those energy drinks I had over the past two weeks that this wouldn’t be an issue, but yeah… A lot of the songs tend to meld together, and there’s nothing especially exciting on this album except for a few tracks.
Cross-breed:
Fu Manchu and Thin Lizzy, with a dash of The Stooges1
Reason to buy:
If you like Fu Manchu and want to check out some new music besides Orange Goblin, give it a shot… OR… you’re looking for some new music to get stoned to in your parent’s basement. Going back to the live show supposedly ruling, though, I can imagine this show being fun, and hey Kyle David Paul, the lead singer kind of looks like Ted Leo with long hair! ph33r!
1 I have not been keeping up on new music very much, and one of my friends who does so more than me mentioned The Bravery, Louis XIV, and The Blue Van. Take this with as many grains of salt as possible.
