The tinny, opening chords are over-taken with tub-thumping drums building to a crescendo, the heavilyl distorted guitar slides in with true foot-on-the monitor style. And with that we're into the self-coined "Slum Rock" that is THE FONDAS first single from debut album "Dirty Kicks".
The punky guitars snarl and the bass grunts, while the drums manically manhandle the whole thing along. It reeks of dingy, seedy rock venues- so much so you can practially smell the stale smoke coming off the CD. The lone vocal can be a little weedy (especially when pitched too high) where it needs the power to match the solid guitars. But as the song it hits the chorus- the delay-soaked vocals throw out a simple, catchy hook, thick with backing vocal harmonies and the song comes into its own.
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With all this 'rocking' going on, the difficulty is in sounding like more than simply a good pub-band- and at times the Fondas play a little too easily to the cliche's. However, come the vibe-laden mid-song breakdown they hint at something much deeper- and they carefully build the sense of anticipation for the final post-solo chorus.
It's not particularly big or clever, but it is energetic and certainly worth a listen.
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