Album Review: Deaf Rat - Ban The Light

Over time, there's a reason why things begin to grow less interesting. The original hard rock bands had influences that spanned all of music, from pop to blues, from R&B to folk. It gave us a variety of bands that all sounded different, that all brought something new to the table. Today, the majority of rock bands cite the same handful of influences, so they are all drawing from the same blueprints. There will be minor deviations, but the basis of everything we hear is mostly the same, so it's hard to get excited about the next version of what we already have. I don't blame Deaf Rat for being influenced by Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, and AC/DC, but when I hear dozens of records saying the same thing, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit for another.

What separates Deaf Rat is a bit of Iron Maiden thrown into the mix, which we get early on, as the very first riff of the album is a galloping bit of metal that certainly gets things off to an energetic start. The song unfolds in more standard rock configurations, but it builds to a solid hook that gets the job done. The vocals, courtesy of Frankie Rich, have that higher-register, slightly strained tone that Myles Kennedy has been featuring for years. Or, in other places, he sounds a lot like a version of Sebastian Bach that didn't wreck his voice with years of screaming.

Then, as we move deeper into the album, the band's influences reveal themselves to be lies. I hear very little of any of the bands the members mention as their inspirations, and far more from bands like Motley Crue, and later Sixx:AM. The latter of them is a band that Deaf Rat reminds me of more than any other, with that modern take on glam-ish rock that is trying to be unabashedly mainstream, while still maintaining an aura of being above such things. In other words, Deaf Rat has made a modern radio rock album, but the way they talk about it makes me think they're a bit embarrassed by how accessible their music is. They want the 'artistic cred' of being less mainstream, which I don't get. Making music more people can enjoy isn't a sign of weakness. So much of our thinking is backwards.

If you put all of that to the side, and consider Deaf Rat as a radio band, then "Ban The Light" becomes a very good record. When you compare this to the stuff that is on the modern rock charts (at least here in the US - I haven't seen European charts to know if they're better), Deaf Rat not only slides in comfortably, but they have better songs than the majority of them. "Tying You Down" is better than any song Five Finger Death Punch has ever written, and probably the entirety of Godsmack's catalog too. Fans of mainstream rock should be thrilled by Deaf Rat.

Plenty of these songs have big, strong hooks that should make them concert staples. The acoustic ballad "Bad Blood" is the biggest exception, never building to anything that feels satisfying, and serving as more of an intermission than anything. Other than that misstep, the rest of the record delivers on the band's formula. Deaf Rat isn't what I thought they would be, and they aren't what they say they are, but the results are a blend that works. There's nothing to be ashamed of in being mainstream, especially when you do it well. Deaf Rat does.