The Dust Coda - Mojo Skyline

 

"Mojo Skyline" is the second album by London rockers The Dust Coda.  I picked up on this band a few years ago about a year after the release of their self-titled debut album.  Their mix of Led Zep and AC/DC fuelled rock and roll was most appealing.  "Mojo Skyline" certainly sees a continuation of this rather than anything dramatically new or experimental.

The one thing I love the most about The Dust Coda and the thing that separates them from many of the other rock bands trying to breakthrough now is John Drake's vocals.  Nothing shows off his pipes more than the opening track to this album "Demon" as he sings alone with no back track "I've got a demon, a demon in my heart". Before the guitar kicks in and we are sent into a whole world of classic rock and roll as if we have been teleported back into the 70s.  His vocal performance on this album, just like the last is outstanding.

One thing which got me thinking about this album was the track listing and which tracks they chose to release as singles prior to this album coming out.  It feels like ages since first single "Demon" was released and each track they did release was good with "Jimmy 2 times" and the gentler, "Dream Alight" standing out.  But what makes me think about the choice of how the tracks are ordered is that the first five tracks on the album are the ones they released prior. So, when this album came out I thought to myself, I've heard the first 5 tracks already so I'll start from track 6.  May not seem like a big deal but in this day in age where every stream of track counts you want as many streams as possible surely you want to have not heard tracks mixed in with the already released ones so that folk listen to all of it.  Maybe I'm the only one that thinks like this though.  

In saying that I am back to listening to the first 5 tracks as I feel on the whole that these tracks are the best on the album so rightfully, they were released as singles.  Track 6 "Rolling" they went for a slightly longer song at over 6 minutes.  It’s an ok track and fits with the album but with longer tracks you always want them to be epic and although there is a guitar solo it is quite short in the context of the song.  It's clear though they have the talent to make better longer tracks.  As I say I think this album is quite front loaded with the best tracks but an exception to this is "Best Believe it" which could quite easily have been a single as its a complete whirlwind of a track. Great riff and again great vocals.

Overall, I really enjoyed this album. I would say its on a par with its debut.  There does seem to be quite a lot of rock bands coming through at the moment and I would say not only are The Dust Code up with them, they have the talent and potential to reach greater heights.