Dukes Of Windsor - DukesOf Windsor

Fri 2nd Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Do you remember The Surrogate? Triple J darlings for a brief period of time a few years ago, they grabbed quite a bit of radio play for tracks from their Gentlemen’s Hardcore EP. Doesn’t ring a bell? Don’t worry, when you slip Dukes of Windsor’s debut six track effort into your stereo, you’ll recall The Surrogate pretty quickly, for former Surrogate frontman and Dukes singer Jack Weaving possesses a gonad-bursting howl to rival that of The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins.

Having only formed less than a year ago, we haven’t had to wait for long for the debut slab of Duke. And already they’ve racked up an impressive list of gigs. Of course, their frantic yet somewhat assured brand of scorching rock and roll is better suited to a sweaty pub, and it’s a credit to Swedish hardcore producers Pelle Henriesson and Eskil Corstrom to have whipped up a smart little EP which goes a fair distance to showing off the band’s wares. If you need any ideas what this band is all about, just take a look at what the cover depicts. A female mannequin draped with a fur coat and saxophone, a stuffed dog, an aviator hat a la Jet and two shot glasses. Inside the sleeve, the band lounge around on grand old couches with pool cues at their feet. Make no bones about it, this is a band here for the rock.

Dukes of Windsor are a band that live and die by their frontman. While the six tracks on offer range musically from the burnin’ riff-o-rama (opener and radio single Foxhunt) to almost FM-radio friendly rock-pop (Eva Outro) to mid-tempo balladry (Eva), what sets the band apart from hoardes of similarly talented, similar-minded rock bands is Weaving’s voice. He can scream, he can wail, he can even tone things down slightly – and you can bet that he’d tear the roof off of the local karaoke bar given five minutes with a Guns’n’Roses or Motley Crue track.

There’s plenty of potential here for the Dukes to develop into a force to be reckoned with. Stay is ultra-catchy, ultra-accessible pop, all ‘uh-uh’ and a chorus of “It’s OK, it’s alright, if you want to spend the night.” But just to rest your mind at ease, Weaving also promises that “it’s OK if you want to spend the day.” Keyboards dominate Robin the Hood with Weaving’s bratty vocals during the verse taking a backseat to him impressive high-pitched effort just before the chorus kicks in.

And, just when you think you have Dukes of Windsor pigeon-holed as a band who can write a decent pop-rock song and possess one of the finest rock vocalists around, they then hit you with the final track, Reprise, a minute-and-a-bit of lush keyboard sounds which sound like they belong on a Polyphonic Spree or Radiohead album.

Screeching vocals over rock fare produced by some esteemed Swedish hardcore dudes? I can’t really say that I understand the whole thing. But I’m intrigued enough to go back for seconds.