Though still relatively young lads, Glasgow's DECKARD can already lay claim to a chequered career thanks to a fractious relationship with US label Reprise, and - bizarrely - having songs included in the soundtracks for "Friends" and "Trigger Happy TV."
So, while this may be a more colourful learning curve than most, it's still resulted with the lads back in Glasgow again, releasing their new album through their own website. This is probably a good thing though, as the songs themselves bleed with a determined resolve not to make the same mistakes again and showcase a band refreshed, convinced of their own greatness and keen to slug it out with all comers.
Make no mistake, "Dreams Of Dynamite & Divinity" is chock full of hard-edged, grown up rock tunes, with singer Chris Gordon's lyrical concerns primarily obsessed with sex, death and the frailties of relationships. Nothing revolutionary there, then? Well, that's true, but Deckard go about their business with an infectious passion and above-average tune quotient that's enough to get you onside relatively quickly.
It's serious gear. Opener "To Your Soul" rumbles in with storm clouds amassing and a huge cloudburst of white noise before itchy guitars and a chugging tune reminiscent of the Manics at their most epic kicks in. Chris Gordon is soon showing off his vocal capabilities ( not dissimilar to both Matt Bellamy or Shudder To Think's Craig Wedren in places) and dropping hints of his dissatisfaction via lines like "All my life I've searched for something, little pieces let themselves in." Crikey.
Several tracks follow which continue to tease, provoke and stake a claim for Deckard as brooding, passionate rockers, not least "We're Aching", with its' prowling guitars topped off with E-bow; "When Picking Fights", which is slower, festering and distinctly reminiscent of several of the Dischord label bands until it gets a release with a broiling chorus and "Be Nobody Else", which is driven hung on a patient musical framework and disturbingly sad. When the band slam in and Gordon repeatedly wails "Is it over after all?", the effect is the sonic equivalent of Wile.E.Coyote smashing into the canyon floor in abject failure in the 'Roadrunner' cartoons and it's little short of decimating.
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But Deckard are also aware that this business is about straight up rock thrills and also sensibly lob in fizzing shag grenades like the crunching, slightly chromatic "Say Something Stupid", the solidly anthemic closer "I Dream Of Dynamite" and the funkily hedonistic "Holy Rolling," which delights with that coolly infectious chorus of "I will adore you more than ever before" - well, at least until you discover it's about a bloke buggering off and leaving his girlfriend, who goes into a coma in the meantime. But that's Deckard for you: melodic, pop-rock accessibility with side dishes of fatalism and self-laceration.
And they're usually tasty, too, even when the band get all slow and unsettling, like on "Fall Down At Your Feet", which is unfeasibly lonely, but possesses an eerie grace all its' own and works a great trick of not puncturing its' own atmosphere even when the heavy drums kick in mid-way through.
Occasionally, they over-egg the pudding, like on the wracked "Grace's Estate", where the self-loathing gets a bit too ugly, but overall "Dreams Of Dynamite And Divinity" wins through with its' nerves frayed, but self-belief still very much intact. Picking at the scabs has rarely sounded so compelling.
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