Duke Fame
Regrets
Self Released
Duke Fame appear to be a weekend band, comprised of gentlemen who look like they might work for the local phone or cable company. They play three chord, verse-chorus-verse rock music, with sing-along melodies. While I can’t say that Regrets is good or interesting, I can say it’s not awful.
The guitar player and drummer for Duke Fame are quite capable and sound pretty darn solid. For the most part, the guitarist just pummels the same three or four chords throughout the entire record, but he’s got a great classic rock/Gin Blossoms thing going on with his sound. The drums could be a bit higher in the mix, as the guy has a good swagger in his style. Sadly, it seems that Duke Fame have been duped by yet another record producer/engineer who thinks that the vocals need to be super loud and way in front.
Duke Fame’s vocalist wears many different stylistic hats, including Tom Petty, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. Were his voice to have been evenly blended with the other instruments, I probably would have liked Regrets a lot more. As it stands, though, this guy’s voice is loud and overpowering. I really just wanted the punishment to end.
I guess if you’re friend with the guys in the band, you might want to do them a favor by buying this record and pretending to like it. Thankfully, I’ve never met them, and I don’t have to pretend like their second rate Neil Young and Crazy Horse impersonation is anything other than crap.
Duke Fame: http://www.cdfreedom.com/
