Dangereens – Chic [IMPORT Gatefold] – New LP

Friday-night barroom Texas R&B shuffling across the wooden floor and brought through the decades when bands like the Kinks, Stones, Byrds, Bobby Fuller, Dolls, NRBQ, T. Rex, Free, Faces, and ones on the Stiff Records roster were yawling and swaggering into the studios and across stages...this band from Canada just nailing it again, this new album like the previous without ever sounding redundant, the grooves chock full of good times, the melancholy rising its head just to get knocked down.  Fire up the V-8 and kick back the bucket seats, crank this and close your eyes or kick up your heels and forget about everything that happened in the past four decades.  Bring me back, Dangereens.  -- winch

     

Montreal DANGEREENS are back with a bang! Here comes their second album, thirteen originals full of the glam rocknroll Rockpalast scorchers from the friday night dance ("Chlorine", "Fly-By-Nighter", "Hallelujah") to the sunday bike race jive ("Death on Two Wheels", "Jailbird Annie"). Montreal has, in our books, some history of perfectly blended sweet rocknroll tunes with some punk urgency, the DANGEREENS won our hearts with every song on "Chic", its wonderful 60's harmonies, 70s schmaltz rock with pounding 50s BERRY kicks and relentless piano hammering. Speed up the STONES or set SLADE under adrenaline fire, let PAUL COLLINS BEAT do the rock and you have a good time with the DANGEREENS. We´re overexcited about them and flew to NYC to see them and at the end missed them. But hey, for us they are in RnR of 2024 what the EXBATS are in pop music. There are some bands out there which can great tunes as if it would be easiest thing to do. Looks like those kids had to perform the Wanderer & Maybelline for corn flakes, watch the 60´s TV dance shows all night and had to learn to play the whole NORTON RECORDS catalog. Tell me! Recordings got analog mastered and is packaged in a fuzzy inside-out gatefold sleeve.  

addtowantlist.com (NL) July 2024 While listening to Chic, the second LP by Canadian rock-‘n’-rollers Dangereens, two things become immediately clear: One, this band is the real deal. Two, these guys were born five decades too late. Then again, this is not really news. At Add To Wantlist, we are fans of the band, and their 2020 debut Tough Luck made both my and Dennis’ year-end lists. I described that record as “Dangereens channel their inner Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson to create an album that is full-on sleazy glam rock ‘n’ roll.” The follow-up dials down the Replacements comparison — it’s still there but more subtle. It’s like the band learned some new tricks and dove even deeper in the classics in their record collections. This is a throwback rock-‘n’-roll record that mixes Stones-esque rock, glam rock, and power pop, capturing everything great about rock-‘n’-roll before the ’90s kicked in. What makes Dangereens such a great band is that none of their music feels ironic. Their songs are crafted, trimmed, and cut to maximize fun and minimize extra baggage while still sounding extremely vibrant and loose. Let’s dive into a few standout tracks. The huge chorus of the glam-rockin’ Fly By Nighter makes you want to tear off the sleeves of your denim jacket. Death On Two Wheels takes you right to a sweaty bar show where you’re having the best time. Any Day Now shows how much pop sensibility Dangereens have and that their talent isn’t limited to loud rock-‘n’-roll. If there’s any knock against Dangereens, it’s that they do not have a cool band logo you could scribble on your notebook. I love how it’s 2024 and there are multiple bands trying and succeeding to capture not just the spirit but also the songwriting and sound of a time when most of us had yet to be born or were too young to experience it. I’d count The Lemon Twigs and Uni Boys among those bands, even though they are all reviving different corners of rock-‘n’-roll history. Like those bands, Dangereens are firing on all cylinders, holding nothing back.Chic is out now on Alien Snatch!, who simultaneously released that killer record from fellow Canadians Real Rejects. Who says lightning can’t hit twice, eh? (Niek)

rpmonline.co.uk (UK) Aug 2024 The band Dangereens came to my attention back in 2021 with their mighty fine debut long player ‘Tough Luck’. “Hanoi Rocks meets The Georgia Satellites jamming in a smoky bar with The Rolling Stones” is how I described the debut long player from this Montreal based 5 piece. And I’m happy to report that with the surprise release of their sophomore album ‘Chic’, not much has changed in the Dangereens camp. With the cool swagger of the Stones, the trashiness of The Dolls and the countrified twang of Tom Petty, Hugo Chartrand and his band return with a 13-track sophomore album that warms to the soul from the first digital drop of the needle. It all kicks off with ‘Fly By Nighter’, a 70’s glam rock stomp of an opener, with sleazy Faster Pussycat style low slung riffs, sneering vocalisin’ courtesy of main man Hugo Chartrand, and there’s even some cowbell thrown in for good measure. The country twang of ‘Death On Two Wheels’ is a welcome addition and builds nicely, Tom Petty meets The Stones for the win. Three tracks in and ‘Kingdom Of White Lies’ shows singer and main songwriter Hugo’s knack for a catchy tune. A 50’s rock n’ roll feel to this with boogie-woogie piano stabs. I mean, I’m pretty much sold already, The Dangereens didn’t have much to prove in my eyes (or ears) and they are holding up to the word ‘sophomore’ so far. The band take a deep breath and take things down with ‘Walk On Water, a laid-back tune that evokes ‘Black and Blue’ era Stones, as twin guitars fight for low down licks over a lazy but tight-ass rhythm section. In a similar vein, ‘Any Day Now’ sounds like it coulda come from the Ju Ju Hounds album sessions, did they give Izzy or Rick Richard’s a call for this one, I wonder? The band records in analogue with minimal takes and there’s a lot to be said for that approach to recording a rock n’ roll record. ‘Chic’ just sounds like a classic 70’s record before you’ve even hit side 2. Talking of side 2, we’ll let the music do the talking, but a special mention goes out to the fantastic ‘Chlorine’ in all its boogie-woogie, glam glory and what a killer bass line! They don’t make ’em like anymore. That my friends is a strong tune with an overly catchy chorus. Elsewhere, with handclaps, twin guitars and a definite glam stomp, ‘Friday Night’ outdoes Tuk Smith in the T Rex meets Thin Lizzy meets Bryan Adams groover stakes. The title ‘Hallelujah’ suggests a rousing chorus to sing from the rooftops and Hugo and the boys deliver in spades. 13 tracks in 40 minutes leaves enough space on one side of a C90 to squeeze on a couple of tracks from their debut EP for good measure if anyone still does that sorta thing. Good times don’t go out of style and Dangereens have plenty to go around. I’ll give you one piece of advice, if you have even a smattering of interest in this band, head over to Alien Snatch Records Bandcamp page and order this bad boy on old school vinyl before it sells out, tell them RPM sent ya and we demand a UK Tour quick sharpish. ‘Chic’ could be my favourite album of the year and is certainly essential listening.