D4 - 6twenty

by John Clarkson

published: 28 / 3 / 2002

Label: Flying Nun
Format: CD

intro

'Rip-roaring, exciting rock 'n' roll' from Johnny Thunders influenced New Zealand four piece, D4.

Auckland, New Zealand's the D4s wear their influences quite literally openly on their sleeves. In a montage of photos and stickers that appears on the inside page of the booklet that accompanies their debut CD '6Twenty', the album cover of Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers 'L.A.M.F' sticks out of one corner. Like the Heartbreakers, the D4s play rip-roaring, exciting rock 'n' roll that throws in both tinges of glam and punk. Elsewhere too on '6 Twenty', there is a faithful, almost obligatory cover of the late Thunders' 'Pirate Love'. The songs on 6 Twenty' otherwise nearly all concentrate on riotous living, either with wild women ('Rock 'n' Roll Motherfucker' , 'Ladies Man', 'Little Baby' and 'Rebekah') , by driving fast cars ('Invader Ace' and 'Exit to the City') or simply by hanging out with the boys on Saturday night ('Party' and 'Come On'). To describe the D4s as simply just another group of rock 'n' roll wannabe hedonists would, however, be unfair'. 'Running on Empty' shows a comic, self-deprecating weariness with fast living ("Twenty minutes just to get to my feet/I can't remember if I had any sleep"), while the final number, the agonised 'Heartbreaker ("Now I am sitting here with all this pain/I gave her love she never had before" ) is genuinely poignant. The playing and the musicianship throughout is also superb. While not stikingly original, in the absence of the real Thunders, the D4s are by far and away the next best thing. All you could ever want from a garage band, but also a little more.

Track Listing:-

1 Rock n Roll Motherfucker
2 Party
3 Come On
4 Pirate Love
5 Running On Empty
6 Ladies Man
7 Invader Ace
8 Little Baby
9 Rebekah
10 Mysterex
11 Exit To The City
12 Heartbreaker

interviews

Interview (2002)

New Zealand group D4 have been meeting with much acclaim recently with their blend of Heartbreakers and Stooges inspired breakneck punk. Vocalists Dion and Jimmy talk to Mark Rowland backstage at a recent London gig about their debut album '6twenty'

live reviews

Brighton Centre Point, 10/7/2002

Garage punks D4 recently concluded a two week British tour. In the first of two reviews of the tour, Julia Willis finds energy infectiously "high", but originality "low" at a Brighton show

London Garage, 12/7/2002