67 Special

Like the classic HR Holden that the band take their name from, 67 Special thunder along dark and dangerous streets searching for action. Melbourne’s version of the invincible leather-clad gang in the Wanderers film, they are ready to jump in the deep end. “We all get on a bag of honey/clamp down or divine decadence will breed,” warns frontman Ash Santilla on first single Killer Bees, before the band scream triumphantly in unison: “We got honey’’.



When the five members of the band awake in the morning with pounding heads and dry mouths, they discover scrawled notes in their pockets to a dozen songs of love, hate, temptation, sex and ultimately, the truth.



The songs ended up on “The Devil May Care”, 67 Special’s much anticipated sophomore album. Produced by Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, Modest Mouse), and recorded at The Grove Studio over August and September 2006, it bursts out of the gates with Sold Your Little Sister for a Red Motor Car. The thumping rhythm of Ben Dexter (drums) and Bryan Dochstader (bass, backing vox) and Gavin Campbell’s grinding guitar licks lay the foundation for Ash Santilla impassioned songs of the night. Louis Macklin’s pounding keyboards fill out the dynamic sound in the grand tradition of the Stooges, the Faces and Rocket Science.



The propulsive Shot at the Sun, which is set to be blasted over the airwaves this winter, sums up the band’s lust for life and adrenalin-charged rock: “Let’s find better things to do, like ridin’ on a cannonball shot at the sun.’’



The band’s sound is difficult to categorise, which is hardly surprising given their vast array of influences, from delta blues to Motown, British punk and Brit Pop and rock revival bands the Strokes and the Vines. “You say you aint heard of Muddy Waters my girl,’’ sings a horrified Santilla, before laying down the law: “well let’s just say that you and me ain’t gonna work.’’

You don’t have to be a blues pig to appreciate the band’s sound, but the Waters reference gives some hint to the album’s dark themes and shady outlaws that traditionally inhabit blues and country songs.



The band have stripped their intricate sound back on Devil, focusing on strong rhythms, harmonies, lyrics and melodies. “We’re just five guys playing rock ‘n’ roll,’’ says an understated Dochstader. It’s not all four-to-the-floor rawk. The mid-tempo Patch it Up swings like a marginal voter, while stunning ballads “So, Help Us All” and album closer “It's Not Like You” are sweet sensitive foils to the rest of the album’s bravado.



But don’t be fooled, it’s that cocksure confidence that has seen Santilla’s stature in the Australian music community rise considerably since the band’s debut release. He performed two Leonard Cohen tracks at the Melbourne premier of the Leonard Cohen film “I’m Your Man”. The highlight would have to be the sight of the brooding, gangly frontman channelling the dark spirit of fellow Victorian country boy Nick Cave on the Bad Seed’s “Jack the Ripper” at the Age EG’s 21st Birthday Bash at St Kilda’s Prince of Wales last year. Big shoes to fill, but he pulled it off, receiving the thumbs up from none other than Bad Seed Mick Harvey backstage.