Sounds From The Junkshop #73 - Danko Jones

 

"You can call me the Mango Kid but your girlfriend calls me baby..." - Danko Jones - The Mango Kid

"Bloody hell, I've never seen a man headbang to a drum roll before!" in the words of my mate at that gig. It was some time in 2002 if I remember rightly and myself and a couple of friends had gone along to Leeds Cockpit to see the Backyard Babies on their Making Enemies Is Good tour. We turned up a bit early and were lucky enough to see a support band who well and truly blew us away and very much gave the headliners a run for their money (good though the Backyards were that night). They were so good in fact that I've stuck with them for the two decades ever since. I refer of course to the one and only Mr Danko Jones.

I seem to remember at the time that the group had just put out their debut album proper Born A Lion and the set that night was a ferociously tight and wiry barrage of garage rock that would have caused Julian Casablancas and Jack White to shit their nappies if they'd been there. From the ferocious barrage of Samuel Sin and Sex Change Shake that opened the set through the primal bass rumble of Lovercall to the blistering Cadillac that closed it, I was absolutely hooked. Myself and the other guy from our drinking group that went along that night promptly tracked down a copy of Born A Lion and the odds 'n' sods collection I'm Alive And On Fire from the sadly missed punk record shop Out Of Step Records just outside Leeds Corn Exchange the next day and got busy spreading the word. Suffice to say that when the DJ3 returned to Leeds six months later or so that there was a pretty sizeable group of us who went along and we all had an absolute blast.

It's a bit difficult doing SFTJ columns on bands who are still very much out there because it's a bit difficult to say "ah man, why weren't this band massive?" when the group in question is still very much a going concern. And to be fair, Danko is a guy who still has a pretty healthy cult following around the world to this day through both his music and his excellent podcast. But there's still a slight nagging feeling that makes me occasionally wonder why on earth him and his band, much like the similarly excellent and underrated Hellacopters, didn't get more of a ride on the jetstream in the wake of the garage band boom (which, let's be honest here, largely consisted of bands who weren't fit to lace Danko's boots in terms of quality) which was breaking around the time of Born A Lion. Certainly groups like the White Stripes and the Strokes would have killed to have written something as flat out awesome as Play The Blues or Sugar Chocolate or Mango Kid or...well, the list goes on and on really.

There's plenty of great memories I've got attached to this band - seeing them absolutely nuke the Bronx (who I think must've been having an off night) when the bands toured together in Leeds, moving to London and converting a whole new group of people to their awesomeness at the end of the noughties which then led to us going to see the band and having an absolute blast on numerous occasions around the capital (all the more sweet as there was a quite prolonged period around the late noughties where Danko wasn't touring the UK at all so it felt great to finally see the guy live again in this era and realising he hadn’t lost a step in the intervening years). More nights than I can remember sweating half my body weight out in the moshpit and being hoarse the next couple of days from excess bellowing the choruses along. Even on the odd album where Danko hasn't quite nailed it like 2008's Never Too Loud or 2019's A Rock Supreme he's usually bounced straight back with something that reminds you exactly why you fell in love with his music in the first place in short order.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier in this article, Danko is still very much a going concern with the group's line-up consisting of bassist JC who's been there since the beginning and drummer Rich Knox who's finally given the group a bit of stability behind the kit after a bit of a Spinal Tap style procession of sticksmen through the noughties. Their most recent release, last year's Power Trio (Nite Songs review here) was a commendably strong effort which very much shows that they've still got it and I think it's safe to say I'm probably gonna roll with the band as long as they're still going. Anyway, if you're unlucky enough to still be unacquainted with Danko Jones, you really need to put that right asap if you're one of those people who's got an appreciation of simple good life-affirming rock 'n' roll. Your friendly Uncle Andy advises that you start with Born A Lion and I'm Alive And On Fire then move on to Sleep Is The Enemy, We Sweat Blood, Below The Belt and then proceed to the rest from there. Trust me, there's a whole world of awesome rock 'n' roll energy here that you really do not want to miss out on if you're looking for a good time.