The D4 - Sake Bomb

Tue 14th Dec, 2004 in Music Reviews

New Zealand boys The D4 seemed to have enjoyed a short period of hibernation recently. Last year, Triple J grabbed single Party from their 6Twenty album (proceeded to flog it to death), and heads began to turn. After a spot at Livid and further album airplay over the past year, the D4 joined the ranks of other hard rock/garage darlings as the genre saw a new workout in popularity.

They were the pioneers of the moderately offensive ROCKNROLL MOTHERFUCKER song, followed by the black and white t-shirts of the same ilk (yes, you can still buy them at shows). They sang songs with the common themes of rock, beer, sweat, and occasionally, pirate love.

They’ve done a bit of touring around the country recently. They did their best to shake up Melbourne supported by the Specimens and Blacklist a few weeks ago which saw the band putting on a tight, sweaty show, practically exploding with energy. Unfortunately, it was a fairly tough crowd to impress. It’s hard not to imagine that maybe, if The D4 had jumped onto the tight jeans bravado before their Kiwi hard rock brothers The Datsuns took centre stage, they may be the ones touring internationally and riding the wave of hype-driven critical acclaim.

The new D4 single, Sake Bomb, sees the band rise to new heights of rock/punk hedonism. True to D4 style, it’s a combination of no-brainer lyrics, breakneck speed, and repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s not particularly inspiring, but it’s rather catchy, and I’d imagine it would really whip up a crowd with a few beverages already under their belts. It may not appeal to everyone, but there’s no mistaking the enthusiasm pumped into Sake Bomb.

It revvs like an old motorcycle and is infectiously melodic. With it’s shouted lyrics and punk guitar style, it’s hard to avoid being carried away by the momentum.

Plus, with lyrics like these:

You can’t go wrong. Unpretentious epileptic rock in it’s most primal form.