Album Review: Deniz Tek - "Long Before Day"

 

Following his excellent collaboration with the Stooges' James Williamson a couple of years ago on the Two To One album, former Radio Birdman lynchpin Deniz Tek is back with a new album. Two To One definitely showed that he's still got the fire and the chops over four decades on from Radio Birdman first appearing on the music scene.

Long Before Day is simply the sound of Tek kicking back and doing what he does best - menacing garage rock with a hint of blues to it as evidenced on Ballad Of Chief Joseph, a tale of Native Americans forced off their land to an insistent swaggering riff. Elsewhere, the bluesy Speak Of Ice and the almost country noir of Home see Tek taking traditional templates but imbuing them with an air of menace to create something that definitely stands out from the crowd.

My only slight complaint about this album is that the pace doesn't really vary too much from the midpoint of the spectrum. That's not necessarily a bad thing and Tek is definitely still very good at what he does as the likes of Truck And Roll and 1984 Again bear out, it'd just be nice if there were a couple of more frenetic numbers on here. I dunno, maybe I went into this one with the wrong expectations - Tek is clearly making the sort of music he's comfortable with which, when you've been in the game as long as he has, is something he's more than earnt the right to do.

Overall, Long Before Day is a solid album rather than a spectacular one but if you can accept the fact that we're not going to get something like Descent Into The Maelstrom or Murder City Nights at this point in the guy's career then it's a perfectly enjoyable way to spend 45 minutes or so. 

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