Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2025 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
CELEBRATING 18 YEARS!
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
September 2025
- Primal Fear: Domination
- Glenn Hughes: Chosen
- FM: Brotherhood
August 2025
- Helloween: Giants & Monsters
- Rising Steel: Legion Of The Grave
- Mob Rules: Rise Of The Ruler
- Rust N Rage: Songs Of Yesterday
- Crowne: Wonderland
- Strangers: Boundless
- Jack The Joker: The Devil To Pay In The Backlands
July 2025
- Honeymoon Suite: Wake Me Up When The Sun Goes Down
- Ramonda: The Walls Are Crumbling Down
- Scardust: Souls
- Laguna: The Ghost Of Katrina
- Eternal Idol: Behind A Vision
- Double Vision: Double Vision
April/May 2025
- The Speaker Wars: The Speaker Wars
- Giant: Stand And Deliver
- Sign Of The Wolf: Sign Of The Wolf
- Harem Scarem: Chasing Euphoria
- Cosmic Cathedral: Deep Water
- Beholder: In the Temple of the Tyrant
- Art Nation: The Ascendance
- Laurenne/Louhimo: Falling Through Stars
- Rock Out: Let's Call It Rock N Roll
- The Flower Kings: Love
- Maestrick : Espresso Della Vita: Lunare
March 2025
- W.E.T.: Apex
- Alliance: Before Our Eyes
- Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
- Phil X & The Drills:
Pow! Right In The Kisser - IQ: Dominion
- Heart Line: Falling Heaven
- Gotthard: Stereo Crush
- Defender: Dying To Live
- Streetlight: Night Vision
Dirt Mall: Pacifuego
Dirt Mall: Pacifuego
Rock
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DayKamp Records
www.dirtmallofamerica.com
www.myspace.com/dirtmall
Review: Craig Hartranft, 02.22.2010
When you've got a good thing going, why change? Boston's Dirt Mall began with an idea of creating fundamental rock and roll. They embellished it with a bit of punk brashness, melodic sensibility, and modern garage rock creating 2007's Got the Goat by the Horns. This basic substance remains on this year's Pacifuego, a solid disc of gritty modern garage rock and roll.
I might even add that Dirt Mall have upped the ante by stepping backwards. Pacifuego has a more elemental and raw sound than its predecessor. While the aforementioned embellishments remain, they're more nuances than anything else. Pacifuego is a rock album, pure and simple. Strong riffs over a strong, yet minimal, rhythm section accented by whiplash guitar solos drive every song. Yet some songs have singular accents like the layered vocal arrangements on Lost in Plain Sight or the blues piano on Standing in the Road. Sharpness and brevity have always characterized Dirt Mall's rock as on the punkish I Am the One and Only. And Johnny Anguish is up to his usual wit on Rats where the vermin long to be Cats on a lively rock and roll number.
Ultimately, if you like your rock to be rock and roll, with garage grittiness and attitude, the Dirt Mall's sophomore release Pacifuego will be perfect for you. Recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
In Short
If you like your rock to be rock and roll, with garage grittiness and attitude, the Dirt Mall's sophomore release Pacifuego will be perfect for you. Recommended.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
To paraphrase late night talk show host David Lettermen, my next artist needs little introduction. Germany's Helloween are practically the godfathers of traditional European power metal. This year they will the ... [ Read More ]