Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Deck Janiels
Label: Self-released
Released: 2013
Runtime: 33:46
Rating: 4/5
Deck Janiels are Slovenian rock n’ roll revivalists based in Kamnik! The band has been around since 2008, but up until this year they didn’t turn many heads or shout their musical mission from the rooftops. Still, in between the occasional gig, they were busy honing their own original material. Their growth was confirmed on stage too, where, as they steadily piled up mileage, know-how and experience, they came across as more and more confident, tight and credible.
And so the big moment arrived: the release of the studio debut »On The Rocks«. A cheekily flirtatious blonde served up on a glass filled to the brim with Scotch whiskey. As the opening lines of this review and the wordplay in the band’s name, borrowed from a famous brand of hard liquor, already hint, Deck Janiels are a potently riled-up bunch of rock n’ roll troublemakers who dust off guitar licks in the spirit of the most scorchingly authentic joys of the bad ass moments from the golden age of elemental bands like AC/DC, Motörhead and Rose Tattoo. There’s surely a pinch of Chicago boogie blues swagger clinging to the whole thing too, so ZZ Top fans can prick up their ears while listening to »On The Rocks« as well.
The guys aren’t reinventing the music wheel, but it’s clear they come across as convincing in their authenticity, and that’s plenty! On top of that, with their guitar phrases they always manage to slalom between the tried-and-tested, well-worn licks of the acts that serve as Deck Janiels’ creative inspiration. Tine Žnidaršič’s vocals radiate just the right mix of arrogance, »badass« defiance and macho strut, in short everything a healthy rock n’ roll needs to “grab you” and charge ahead on its mission with unstoppable force! The track The One And Only confirms an almost astonishing vocal resemblance to the Iron Chancellor himself, Lemmy Kilmister. It’s an effectively igniting implant of the ultimate Motörhead vocal engraving into one of the songs, and it doesn’t “crumble” the dynamic flow of events, but if anything keeps it going very effectively.
The band produced the album themselves. And did a superb job of it. The album maintains a riled-up liveliness and a dynamic interplay of its building blocks. The authoritative vocal is placed right up front, and its gravelly throat, through which it’s not hard to smell the alcohol fumes, convincingly fertilizes the credible ride of the guitar riffs. The riffs are always nicely thickened in the production, and the bass guitar’s foot clearly pulses. Considering the risk you take on when money is tight, Deck Janiels got off very well this time in their gamble with the sound.
An excellent studio debut from a band that solves all its budget problems with plenty of heart and faith in the musical mission and the unique expressive power of rock n’ roll. With »On The Rocks«, Deck Janiels prove they’re a bunch of musicians cut from the right cloth, who know what they want and know how to deliver it to the listener as convincingly as possible. With an untamed storm and a full set of rocker balls. The retro rock n’ roll revisionists Deck Janiels are a band that, with »On The Rocks«, is effectively filling a genre gap in the Slovenian music scene right now.
Line-up
Tine Žnidaršič – vocals
Mitja Groznik – guitar
Gregor Vrtnik – guitar
Tomaž Paternoster – bass guitar
Jan Merčon – drums
Production
Deck Janiels
Tracklist
1. Road Rage
2. Last Days Of Paradise
3. The One And Only
4. Dirty Honey
5. Mom Boucher
6. Jack N’ Beer
7. She
8. On My Mind
9. Where Will You Go?
10. Rock The Ground
