Album Review: Danko Jones – “Wild Cat”

Ah, the routines of life. Sunday morning, sun rising, birds singing, cornflakes for breakfast, Danko Jones releases a new album of fired up rock ‘n’ roll and all is as it should be.

This is no less than Mr Jones’ ninth album since their debut I’m Alive And On Fire way back at the turn of the millennium, and it’s safe to say that having found that winning formula many years ago, Danko and his cohorts are rigidly sticking to it – all eleven of the songs on Wild Cat are tightwire high octane slices of rock ‘n’ roll about girls, partying and rock ‘n’ roll.

So why do they still sound so damn good after all these years then? I think the key is that while certain bands who are at the four albums plus mark lose their enthusiasm and are very much going through the motions (see Airbourne’s disappointing effort from a few months ago), Danko and his band attack these songs with the energy and enthusiasm of a band in their early twenties who are being let loose in the studio for the first time. The likes of I Gotta Rock, Do This Every Night and the frenetic Let’s Start Dancing are still the old mix of AC/DC, Van Halen and The Ramones mixed up into one fast ‘n’ furious cocktail of fun, and will get your toe tapping and your hand reaching for the nearest bottle of Jack Daniels.

Essentially, it’s everything that great rock ‘n’ roll should be. And let’s be honest, we wouldn’t expect anything less from these guys.