Danko Jones: No Soft Return

10/24/08 11:59am

by Erik Missio (CHARTattack)

Don't mistake melody for weakness on The Mango Kid's new album

Danko Jones (the man and the band) is back.

For those who haven't had the pleasure, here's the long story short — Danko (the man) is the guitar hero with game, long a frontrunner for Can-rock's best live frontman. Along with bassist John "JC" Calabrese and drummer Dan Cornelius, he also makes up the hard rock trio that bears his name.

After years of fighting for deserved recognition in their home and native land, Danko (the band) managed to secure mad props amongst European hard rock and metal tastemakers, playing every festival that counts and several that don't. Now, on the eve of their fourth long-player, Never Too Loud, they're mixing up their tried and true formula of rock, revenge and randiness.

The band's singer, he of the unmistakable growls and boastful barks, is going
to sing. The question is, could this be misinterpreted as too soft a side for the
hard rockers?

"I wasn't nervous, but I was wondering how people were going to take it originally," says Danko (the man), over green tea lattes in Toronto. "I just came back from a European press tour, and I was really glad the rockers — the people who really knew their rock — liked it. They knew the references we were taking from.

"We're not straying from how we sound, but the influences that have always lain in the background have moved to the foreground. I've always said we're big KISS and Thin Lizzy fans, but you'd never really hear it on our records that much. With this one, we decided we were just going to go for it."

Danko's quick to point out his vocal inspirations for the album are guys like Gene Simmons and not, say, Ronnie James Dio. (Baby steps and all that.) But despite an increased emphasis on melody, there's little danger of confusing the new songs with adult contemporary. While an acoustic strum (!) may be discernible in the road-weary "Take Me Home," there's no mistaking the almost-Sabbathian riffs of "Forest For The Trees" or the wild-eyed, sneer-mouthed vocals driving "Still In High School."

Helping the band achieve balance between the tunefulness and the torrential was Nick Raskulinecz, a friend of a friend whose resume includes Rush, Coheed & Cambria, Shadows Fall and Foo Fighters. The album was recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606.

"It was great to find Nick was a huge rock fan — we all got along like lost brothers," Danko says. "He had the same background as I did, he grew up on the same bands, he liked the same records. It was a meeting of the minds. Also, he's really a sonics guy, so the guitars are very, very heavy."

With the disc done, the band can return to what they do best — tear up Canada and Europe with ferocity. Danko Jones inarguably remain not only one of this country's best live acts, but also one of its hardest working, regularly clocking in 150 shows a year. It really comes back to the chorus of "Code Of The Road," one of the tracks on the new album: "Nothing comes easy, but it's worth the fight." This ethos means not only performing in front of the adoring masses, but also potentially entering enemy territory.

"The thing about punk and rock bands… I think a lot want to play in front of the converted. But I think that's the opposite of why you go out on a tour," he says. "Sure, it's fun to play for a crowd that knows all the words, but it can be equally fun to be in front of a crowd that is foreign to what you're playing and wondering if you can win them over.

"And if you can't, you just start entertaining yourselves," he continues, before a pause and a smile, "at their expense."

Danko Jones (the man and the band) is back. Be ready.

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Danko Y Love

In the new song "Ravenous," Danko Jones is downright exuberant (giddy, really) about a certain someone. While his love's always been bold, the man who calls himself Dr. Evening has historically been a bit… mercurial when it comes to the dating world:

"Here's something they're never gonna tell ya/I kind of figured it out/As much as people wanna love ya/They'll always bring you down" —"Don't Fall
In Love" (2006)

"I need a woman just like I need a hole in my head/I got a wall going ‘round my heart/I see my friends go through trouble and when trouble's around, it always leads to a girl in the end" —"Heartbreak's A Blessing" (2003)

"If the good lord wants to strike me down tonight and I haven't found my true love/I'm gonna die a happy man" —"Love Is Unkind" (2002)

"All you pretty ladies pass me by and turn your heads/But when I get on stage, you can't take your eyes off me/I say, too little, too late — I'm walking on/You can find another pretty boy to turn you on" —"The Mango Kid" (1999)

"I love the way you talk down/I love your condescending tone/It makes it easy, baby/It makes it damn easy" —"Never Again" (1998)

The following feature is from the March 2008 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, head on over to the Chart Shop.