Aerosmith could never land a major label record contract if it came out today. In the current climate, Cheap Trick would be an indie act lucky to draw 200 heads at a Sinclair gig. Even the mighty Kiss, even in those platform moon boots and spitting blood and fire, wouldn’t sneak into the Top 40 in 2015.
Rock ’n’ roll has nearly become a niche genre. This means a glorious, gruesome group like Goddamn Draculas has to battle to be heard over the deafening noise of bad pop, hip-hop and modern country. Thankfully, Boston’s Goddamn Draculas have no problem being loud. Or being awesome.
The Drax headline a scary good bill with Dead Cats, Dead Rats, Gold Blood & Associates and Dan Webb & the Spiders at Once in Somerville tomorrow. The party celebrates the release of their wicked cool new single “Bethany,” a fractured love song and booming anthem united in one clenched fist.
“‘Bethany is straight-up catchy, oldies-influenced, feel-good rock, which is pretty much our wheelhouse.” frontman Chris Duggan said of the song. (To hear song, play stream at the bottom of the article).
“Duggan’s songwriting gets better and better,” drummer JR Roach added. “He basically wrote every note of every part of ‘Bethany’ himself. (New member) Chris Cardone’s guitar playing adds a killer, new dimension. His leads are lyrical. They rip, but you can sing them.”
Roach is right about the guitar part. Cardone turns the solo into a flashback to 1978 — it’s like something you’d hear in the sonic haze between Van Halen and Thin Lizzy.
What separates Drax from their modern (and classic) rock peers are the harmonies, which come through clean and mighty on “Bethany.” Imagine Queen after a few pints and spitting a pack of cigarettes.
“I’m also progressively blown away by how Duggan, (bassist) Bice (Nathan) and (keyboardist) Chipper (Nicolai) sing in harmony,” Roach said. “There is no trickery. They can do it, anytime, anywhere.”
Despite the industry’s move away from rock, these 2014 Rock ’n’ Roll Rumble champs will keep on thundering through: They plan to drop a couple of new songs every few months and are trying to put together a string of live dates outside New England for 2016.
“The industry is too myopic and confused by the market to give fans of hard rock what they want,” Roach said. “The industry thinks all of these subgenres are mutually exclusive. They aren’t. All of those modern country bands are just frustrated rockers, anyway. That’s why Keith Urban covers Rush.”
“We don’t compete (with more popular genres),” Duggan added. “We can’t. We just gotta be us, have fun and keep plugging away. Hopefully, someday soon, a band will emerge and flip everything like Nirvana did in the early ’90s.”
Hopefully that band will be Goddamn Draculas.
Goddamn Draculas, with Dead Cats, Dead Rats, Gold Blood & Associates and Dan Webb & the Spiders, at Once, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville, tomorrow. Tickets: $12; cuisineenlocale.com.
