CALLING ALL CARS – DANCING WITH A DEAD MAN
The fact that Calling All Cars were chosen to support AC/DC on the Australian leg of last year’s Black Ice Tour should come as no great surprise. Like their forefathers, the Melbourne three-piece are advocates of a distinctly Aussie brand of no-frills rock which favours raw intensity over unbridled creativity. And, in true Australian rock tradition, issues of originality and dynamic variety have done little to stifle commercial success or album sales. The band’s second album isn’t an Acca-Dacca carbon copy, though. The grungy harmonies, together with Haydn Ing’s whimsical singing, often recall early Silverchair, particularly on opener Redline and the title track. Elsewhere, The Desert Sun smacks of Karnivool’s slower brooding brand of rock. But the best tracks on Dancing With A Dead Man are the most immediate ones – She’s Delirious begins with a monstrous guitar riff which instantly quells the fact that it recalls countless other hard-rock songs. Similarly, the relentless percussion assault which drives Reptile marks the track as an effective stand-out. Ultimately, however, this album is barely different to the band’s first album, last year’s Hold, Hold, Fire. In fact, it isn’t overly different to anything in contemporary rock music, both in Australia and overseas. But if that doesn’t bother you, Dancing With A Dead Man should give you the hard-rock fix you need – at least, until one of the better-known bands which they derive from puts out their next album.
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