DUCKWALK CHUCK – Fired Up (2021)
Norwegian Hard Rockers DUCKWALK CHUCK has been active for 20 years, and to celebrate their anniversary they are about to release what should be their finest album, the upcoming ”Fired Up”.
Duckwalk Chuck – what a fun name by the way – music premise is to have a good time, straight in your face, timeless rock ‘n’ roll.
Opener, the title track, pretty much summarizes the band’s simple yet effective formula. ‘All Fired Up’ is not a cover of the Tina Turner cover of the Pat Benatar cover of the Kerryn Tolhurst song of the same name- what it is though is a kickin’ classic hard rocker compete with lyrics about leather & studs and some gang vocals in the choruses. Classic rock riffing, rolling bass lines, four to the floor drums and dirty raspy vocals give us exactly what we’d expect from a good rock ‘n’ roll song.
You know what to expect from a song titled ‘It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll’, and the Norwegians really know how to do it; be prepared to tap your feet all the way through.
With ‘Motor Madness’ the pace is slowed down a bit in favor to groove, followed by the bluesy, more late Seventies sounding ‘Ghost Town’ where lead singer Arvid Thorsen surprises with clean vocals this time. It’s the kind of track you could imagine playing in a rural pub while the local bushies and bikers are swigging a few schooners on a Friday afternoon after a tough week.
‘Rosie’s’ starts off rather slow creating atmosphere only to explode midway leaving room to the guitars to shine, and with “Reckless Driver” and “Shut Your Lights” we have two energetic, bouncy rockers to crank in you car stereo,
Many Norway extreme metal bands are all about the devil and burning churches. The devil does wear many masks though, and vocalist Arvid lets us know ever so nicely that he is the devil and he doesn’t need a mask in the next track ‘I’m The Devil’, another fine blues based slow rocker.
Criminal Man backs off the pace a little, but still maintains the rock ‘n’ roll vibes which you are expecting throughout this album. Lead guitar breaks and solos litter the track, just in the right places, and just enough of them. It is a short and simple song, which is all it needs to be to keep you rocking and a rolling.
The final track ‘World On Fire’ winds back a little to bring us down from our rock ‘n’ roll journey, and we again hear the gang vocals make an appearance throughout the song’s choruses. A well-executed, and not overplayed guitar solo bridges the second chorus to the final verse, and we end on the gang vocal chorus advising us that indeed, the world is on fire.
Duckwalk Chuck definitely belong to the kind of bands that you only discover for yourself after many years of existence and you seriously ask yourself where they have been bobbing up all along.
“Fired Up” offers an effective, fun and entertaining set of songs exuding pure hard rockin’ roll enthusiasm and passion, and that alone is reason enough to warmly recommend the album to all fans of the genre.
ROCKS!
1: All Fired Up
2: It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll
3: Motor Madness
4: Ghost Town
5: Rosie’s
6: Reckless Driver
7: Shut Your Lights
8: I’m The Devil
9: Criminal Man
10: World On Fire
11: Thirsty Dog (Bonus Track)
Arvid Thorsen – lead vocals, bass
Håkon Rønneberg – guitar, backing vocals
Arild Rettore – guitar, backing vocals
Tord Eiken – drums, backing vocals
Pre Order:
www.amazon.com/Fired-Up-Explicit-Duckwalk-Chuck/dp/B09BBPTFX3
