Back in the day, the Mega City 4 were seen as kings of the wild indie frontier, naming their debut album "Tranzophobia" due to the fact that barely a day went by without them gigging in some grotty cubby hole or other.
Fast forward to 2002 and NZ's THE D4 are surely adopting the mantle for high-octane roadkill shenanigans with an added layer of chrome-plated excitement sprayed on for good measure.
They've already clocked up 200+ gigs this year as you read this, and "Come On" is their final sonic instalment of the year to celebrate yet another bout of gigging mayhem. Of course, you'll already know this one well from parent album "6Twenty", but its' driving beat, punky Motown basslines, handclaps and devil-may-shag-off attitude have rightly made it a favourite at the boys' live shows.
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Just to get into the festive spirit, we also get not one, but TWO covers of songs by original Seattle "Nuggets" heroes The Sonics, recorded for added authenticity at guitarist Dion's house. Hey, hang on - shouldn't that read 'garage' rather then 'house.'?
Anyway, both "Don't Believe In Xmas" and "Santa Claus" are irreverent stocking-stuffing fun, with your reviewer particularly enjoying the latter, even though it's basically a rewrite of The Premiers' "Farmer John."
Still, as THE D4 power on into Yuletide there remains a thrilling lack of turkeys in their sonic arsenal. Pass the brandy butter!
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