On their self-titled debut album, The Dust Coda capture tropes of other present-day beef’n’soul success stories (hello Rival Sons, The Temperance Movement, Monster Truck…). Lately it seems that rather a lot of bands have had the same idea (the Led Zeppelin-via-2017 idea), which is great, but inevitably some do end up blurring into others.
The Dust Coda, however, are one group who fall under this umbrella while carving an identity of their own. They have ‘fuck yeah!’ choruses and proper tunes, moreish and invitingly layered. It’s heavy rock’n’roll with proper grit and robust soul, not least in Aussie singer/guitarist John Drake. But it’s not soul in the smooth, tame sense; think livid preacher (via London) in the hooky likes of All I Got.
Softer, swaggering touches come in just the right places, as do flashes of lead guitar heroics. Singles Weakness and Save Me would sit comfortably with rock radio veterans, grabbing you by the throat from the word go, folk-tinged slowie Sweet Love has strains of Robert Plant worldliness, and closing ballad Will I Ever See You Again has Drake evoking Chris Cornell at his most soulful.
You sense there’s more to come from the Dust Coda, but as first impressions go this album gets an awful lot right.
