Whisper Band Of The Week: Detroit Social Club

This week we head to Detroit via Newcastle for some epic guitar rock a la Kings of Leon

I'm been immersing myself, a bit late I'll admit, in the new Kings Of Leon album. It passed me by when it came out, and well, I'm only now giving it the attention it deserves. What I've found is that while it gives a lot, it doesn't spoil you. It holds a little bit back. Leaves you longing.

However this week's Band of the Week are not Kings Of Leon. I only mention the Kings because when I first heard Detroit Social Club, my spider sense tingled in must the same way as when I first heard King's of Leon's debut EP Holy Roller Novocaine. I'll digress slightly, and return to the Followills presently.

Detroit Social Club don't come from Detroit, and it would appear they aren't particularly social, though that claim may well be disputed. They do come from Newcastle. They have a mystic, mid-70s, droning, hypontic, gospel, flavored (FYI I get paid per adjective) sound thats part The Pretty Things, parts Cosmic Rough Riders, parts Beta Band, parts Doors and (I'm also on £7 a part) part Kasabian. When you listen to DSC you get the distinct sense that they are somehow in complete control - by which I mean that you get the feeling that they're holding back on something...

...and for those Kings Of Leon fans rejoining us, I was about to say that the Detroit Social Club give you just enough, then decide you'd had enough and rather smugly sit back and watch you salivate. They'll refrain from stepping up that one octave on the second chorus. They'll reel in the guitar solo, and fade out before the bridge closes. Now go and listen to Milk, or Sex On Fire. Same trick, a big sound, but not a full sound. You can hear the silence. You know they can give you more, yet they choose not too.

I think this band could be the biggest in the world. They could be the best band in the world. They could write the greatest songs your ears have ever heard. They could raise the oceans and level mountains. Except I only think it. I get the impression that the Detroit Social Club might actually believe it; but they just want to keep it to themselves.

Check out Detriot Social Club at www.myspace.com/detroitsocialclub

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