It all started last Friday afternoon. I was cranking out some new tunes when my wife rushed in and, instead of the usual: “turn that bloody racket down!”, said: “this is so cool, who is this?”
The answer was the Delta Riggs and the song I was listening to was their new single Never Seen This Before. This song thumps with a funky old school groove, but the Riggs were playing it with a rock n roll attitude. If the Stones in their 70’s prime and Prince had made a record together it would sound like this. Never Seen This Before is the best start to a weekend I’ve heard in a long time. You dig?
Now here’s the best part – there’s a whole album bulging at the seams with this gear. If Never Seen This Before is the perfect entrée to a Friday night, the album Active Galactic is your all time party soundtrack with Prince and the Stones joined at that party by the Ramones and the Clash as well. This album is hardly stuck in the past, it’s just so much fun trying to spot the musical influences.
Musically the Riggs have never been a static outfit. From the alt rock punk energy of their debut Hex.Lover.Killer to the hip hop flavours on their follow up Dipz Zabazious these Gold Coast boys who now call Melbourne home have been constantly on the move. Like their previous albums Active Galactic thrives on an unrestrained energy, but this time they’re doing it on the dance floor.
From the pulsating groove of the opener Surgery Of Love (a song that’s already been getting a workout on JJJ as a pre album release teaser) to the reggae strut loaded with bottom end on Get Right where “we need boots on the ground to take up the fight” this album thrives on the beat and rarely stops to pause for breath. Whether it’s the complacent inertia of suburban life where “the kids are alright, with the bombs going off they still sleep at night”, or a situation where the boys are lining them up Slingin’ On A Saturday Night, the Delta Riggs still sound like they’re having more fun than anyone you know and musically they’re doing it better than ever.
Active Galactic is out today (26/8/16).
* Note: this is an update to the post that had previously covered the single Never Seen This Before to now include the album as a review. An interview with guitarist Alex “Rudy” Markwell will appear on the Sound Distractions site in the near future.
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