DRENGE

DRENGE (INFECTIOUS RECORDS)

13/20

There’s something thrillingly bad-ass about Drenge, and in the current landscape of UK guitar music, that’s something of a rarity. Born in the Peak District, these brothers spent weekends in Sheffield and the majority of their come-up was from gigs in and around the area. They screech Sheffield in what is actually quite a refreshing way. It’s simple, cocksure and a lot more turgid than your average northern-nights-out anecdotal lyricism bouncing across pretty guitar lines. Unfortunately, what the Yorkshire siblings’ debut boasts in character and ego, it lacks a bit in actual songs.

Drenge’s outlook is wedged between cynicism and angst. On Dogmeat, the line “West street girlies dance like this” is a direct nod to the Vegas strip of Sheffield. There’s an overwhelming sense that these were the two guys laughing at drunk girls at house parties and clearing the dancefloors with their iPod Shuffles tucked into their ears. Over the course of the LP, this disillusioned temper communicated through fairly forgettable melodies begins to feel a little petty and small-minded. It’s definitely not all bad, the riff on Gun Crazy and the bracing crescendo that sign off the 8-minute Let’s Pretend are proof you’re not listening to a wholly apathetic band in any way. Quips like “When I put the kettle on, you put heavy metal on” smack of a Cocker brand of lyricism that is world-weary and fed up of trying.

For a debut effort the potential of this duo is phenomenal but they are at a stage where their songs are still thin and flimsy whereas their swollen, murky sound would be better suited to bigger ideas. The failures of this album come through no fault of the musicians. Give it a few years and maybe a messy divorce, a short-lived drug problem or some kind of bankruptcy would give this pair the ammunition they require. Drenge’s anger is wasted on trivial matters, but you sense that if armed with some actual issues, they might muster up something even dingier, even beefier and more ferocious.

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Words: Duncan Harrison