Leo Rising

“If you want it/You got it/We’re going to give you what you need,” Danko Jones growls at the top of his eponymous power trio’s 12th album, and never before has an opening lyric provided such a perfectly succinct sales pitch. With Danko Jones, you always know what you’re going to get: in-your-face garage rock delivered with heavy-metal heft and near-lethal levels of attitude. But the remarkable thing about <i>Leo Rising</i> is how utterly energised the band sounds even after nearly 30 years in the game, and how they can effortlessly embody the entire history of swaggering rock ’n’ roll, from KISS (“Diamond in the Rough”) to The Black Crowes (“I’m Going Blind”) to The Hives (“Everyday Is Saturday Night”). And if long-time fans are wondering whether the title of <i>Leo Rising</i> is a full-circle reference to Danko’s 2002 full-length debut, <i>Born a Lion</i>, their suspicions are confirmed by the closing “Too Slick for Love”, a blues-punk rave-up that blazes down the hellbound trail razed by their signature showstopper “Love Is Unkind”.