Canadian Hard Rockers Dextress sure know how to channel their influences on this their debut release. Within the grooves you’ll hear the usual suspects from the 80’s heavy hitter gallery – Skid Row, Motley Crue, Van Halen, even Def Leppard – they’re all in there. What Dextress do so well though, is take that spirit and splash it around a bit so what you end up with isn’t just straight pastiche – its a collection of songs that show a real love and understanding of what made late eightes rock so cool.
Though the ten track titles might read like a list of songs you’ve heard before they are all in reality pretty nicely done if not exactly original. Staring out with the Poison-like sing-along of ‘Wild is the Night’ where the guys hit all the right highs and those that loved the glitterier end of the 80’s should lap this one up. That’s followed by the harder-edged Crue-like drive of ‘Sex Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll’ which will do very nicely thank you before the bass-driven hop of ‘Bring on the Girls’ lets the side down for the first and gladly only time here with a song that falls over somewhere between Poison and D’Molls with a rather annoying refrain that just made me wince.
As an opening gambit it’s not at all bad though and you certainly want to hear more. That comes in the form of ‘Rhyme or Reason’ a gritty rocker with plenty of cowbell, and ‘Red Eye Remedy’ which is more of the same high energy stuff with a riff a little reminiscent of Britny Fox’s ‘Girlschool’.
The second half of the album comes alive with ‘Down By the River’ a song that’s darker and meaner than anything in the first half with more of a hard rocking kick. That’s followed by the strut of ‘Oh Sweet Sister’ and the nice groove of ‘Play Nice’ a song that grows on you more and more with each listen.
The album rounds out in style with two of the best tracks here: ‘Guilty Man’ is all about the pace of the party – a real ripper of a track that’s all about fun, and closer ‘Distance’ is the polar opposite and maybe where the Def Leppard comes into the mix, taking it nice and slow to lay down a beat before the guitars seep in to deliver some smooth harmonies.
Worth a listen and another one to chalk up for Canadian rock.
Track Listing: 1. Wild Is The Night | 2. Sex, Drugs, Rock N’ Roll | 3. Bring On The Girls | 4. Reason Or Rhyme | 5. Red Eye Remedy | 6. Down By The River | 7. Oh Sweet Sister | 8. Play Nice | 9. Guilty Man | 10. Distance
Website: www.dextressband.com