Scott Deluxe Drake

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MySpace EditorSDD's second solo CD is now available at all your favorite outlets!!!! *************SDD Interview at Now Wave********http://www.geocities.com/nowwave/rants/scottdrak e.html*******GRAND MAL REVIEW****************************The new album from Scott "Deluxe" Drake reaffirms a recurring theme in today's punk - that the new generation would be well-served to emulate the grizzled veterans of the genre. For as promising and committed as a lot of the younger punk rock n' roll bands are these days, few of them can manage to bring it with a ferocity and conviction to rival the likes of Drake. To say that Drake sounds "revitalized" by his collaboration with dynamo Portland rockers 8 Foot Tender would be more than a little misleading. Deluxe has never really slowed down or lost his edge. But if you feared that Drake would never again rock as furiously and raucously as he did in his Humpers days, Grand Mal will thrill you to no end. In contrast to your typical adolescent punk tuneage, Drake's songs teem with wisdom, intelligence, and an assured maturity. Yet these numbers are delivered with a fighting, vitriolic snarl that will put most teenage screamers to shame. Drake has never sounded more Lydon-esque, his vocals defiantly off-key and oozing attitude, his voice cutting through the clamor like a buzzsaw. For the most part, the musical style hearkens back to the hard-fisted rock n' roll and streetwise '77 punk stylings of The Humpers. The mid-tempo, Pistols-ish "You Can't Win", the roaring "Shanghai Cabaret", the strident "Seasick", and the anthemic "Cadiz Arms" are textbook blasts of "old school" punk, carried off urgently and convincingly. The band, which features longtime Drake co-conspirator Jeff Fieldhouse, absolutely smokes. This type of music demands scintillating guitars, and the Fieldhouse/Saul Koll tandem more than meets the challenge. The branch-out tracks (such as two instrumentals and a cover of the Wayne Shanklin chestnut "Jezebel") show a range and caliber of chops unique to veteran, first-rate bands. But while 8 Foot Tender performs splendidly, this is Drake's show. He's up there front and center, singing his guts out. If this isn't his all-time greatest collection of songs, it's undoubtedly one of his most ferocious. Check it out. -Lord Rutledge, Now Wave Magazine************* GRAND MAL REVIEW The much-revered Long Beach punk band the Humpers may be long in the grave, but their spirit lives on. Grand Mal reunites singer Scott “Deluxe” Drake with guitarist Jeff Fieldhouse for a set of raw punk rockers featuring grizzled guitar riffs, no-nonsense song structure and Drake’s usual clever lyrics and unrefined declamation. (Except on the instrumentals “Cloak and Dagger” and “Cocktails!”) “Seasick,” “The Egerton Grey” and “Blood Like Wine” channel Drake’s considerable penchant for sarcasm, spite and contempt into catchy punk rock in ye olden style. -Michael Toland ******.. CDBABY LINK for SCOTT "DELUXE" DRAKE: Grand Mal --Find GRAND MAL at iTunes here: