
The D4: 6Twenty
By Graham Isaac
Some albums are timeless masterpieces certain to be passed on from generation to generation and revered by tastemakers of all ages with equal fervor. Others serve more as cultural mileposts because they perfectly encapsulate the time and feeling in which they were produced. Still others are fun only for a short while after you get them home from the record store.
Whether or not any of the current garage rock revival bands will end up contributing anything to column A remains to be seen (although one could make a strong argument for efforts by The Strokes and The White Stripes already), one group that won’t be considered for either is New Zealand’s D4. Like their countrymen The Datsuns, they have more in common with 80s buttrock than The Wailers of MC5, and 6Twenty isn’t likely to entertain
you for more than about….five weeks. Tops.
The tracks have common titles like “Party,” “Ladies Man” and “Come On!” and I challenge you to tell any of them apart without the packaging. Which isn’t always a bad thing – Lord help us if EVERY CD we bought stayed relevant or enjoyable throughout our whole lifetime.
My advice is to pick up 6Twenty in early June and drive around in your camaro blasting it and playing air-guitar at red. There are a couple of covers that make for good fun, as does the best of D4’s original material, a mid-tempo builder called “Heartbreaker” that you may actually remember after you take the disc out of your stereo.
The rest is like a good sugar wafer – sweet but paper thin. – (5.5/10)
Read about the band’s live Seattle show on Three Imaginary Girls
Visit D4’s website.