Review Summary: You can't not like The Dudes
The Dudes are a rock band from Calgary Alberta Canada. The band have been around since 1996 but it was their last album, Brain Heart Guitar that got them down the road of national notoriety. They've got a new album out now on Load Records called Blood. Guts. Bruises. Cuts. Before you run away screaming punk or metal, hear me out. The Dudes are rock. You might even consider them as pop with some of their songs. Let's just say catchy rock for now, and not even that hard. Hell, you even hear twang in their music every once and a while like on "Small Mercies". Not enough to warrant any more than a passing glance.
The band knows how to rock out. Listen to "Connected" or their lead single "Pretty Lies" and I think you'll agree. "Girl Police" is probably the albums best song as it follows the story of the boys party being crashed by their girlfriends. The song is fun and up-beat and the emotional vocal styling of Dan Vacon doesn't hurt. The genre changed ever so slightly on every single song it seems, they go from rock to alternative to indie, The Dudes can do it all.
The band's live performances are basically a drunken party. They have a very good sense of humour and are sure to make you laugh before the nights done (even with the lyrics in some of the songs). The "Dude-Bomb" is known to run around the stage as well as some random fans that make it up there. Never seen so much crowd surfing and moshing at a rock show before.
There is a cool duet of sorts called "Had Enough Of It" featuring fellow Calgarian Lisa Lobsinger, now with Broken Social Scene. Fairly upbeat and yet still really accessible. I found Dan's voice one of the best parts of the Dudes. That and the fact that Blood is one of the best produced albums to come out of Calgary. The only reason I give this a 4.5 instead of a 5 is that I felt it could have used a little more aggression and speed. Yup, balls. But I find myself returning to Blood Guts Bruises Cuts time and time again. There is enough diversity here to warrant repeat listens. It's very cool to find a Canadian band that I can be proud of.
