Album Review: Thee Dagger Debs – “Thee Dagger Debs”

I’m only speculating here of course, but I’d bet good money that there are well-worn copies of a few Dr Feelgood albums in Londoners Thee Dagger Debs’ record collection. Sounding like the bastard offspring of Lee Brilleaux and Joan Jett, their debut album is certainly an intoxicating brew which marks them out as a band very much worth your while.

Yes, I’ll admit that they do sound like they’ve pretty much teleported straight in from 1975 or so, but there’s nothing wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve if you add a bit of your own touch to them, and make no mistake, TDD most definitely do that. The razor-sharp guitar lines on Lies and As Long As I’m Moving are just the sort of thing you can imagine Wilko Johnson duck-walking across the stage to, and the hooks on Black Book and Without You will have you queueing them straight up again for another listen.

Although Thee Dagger Debs generally stick to their tried and tested pub rock format throughout this album, there’s a couple of brief forays over into Suzi Quatro style glam rock stomps as evidenced on Ain’t Worth The Time and Whitechapel Blues. But even when they’re shamelessly tipping their hat to the sounds of pre-punk London, they sound tight as you like, and have the hooks and riffs to effortlessly draw you in. It’s this that makes this band such an enjoyable listen, and makes you think most of these songs like the speeded up snake-hips boogie of Eight While Ten must sound awesome in the live arena. Definitely well worth a look.