Dirty Streets: Distractions Review

Distractions (released on the 14^th of Sept.) is the latest album from Memphis, TN band Dirty Streets. Being just a trio comprised of Justin Toland on guitar and vocals, Thomas Storz on bass, and Andrew Denham on drums; these guys swirl up a big sonic concoction of heavy blues rock, psychedelic rock, and a little touch of soul.

The first thing to grab you will be the gargantuan riffs from “Loving Man”, and the trend follows with “The Sound”. Beginning with these two tracks is just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes you just need music like this. It’s a blissful romping sound which at times Led Zeppelin captured (with John Paul Jones and John Bonham being key components), but it also has the power and the guts of a band like Mountain.

“Dreams” softens the mood slightly with an honestly ‘dreamy’ sounding tracks (with hints of the Rolling Stones and CCR), but the hand plunges back into the bag to retrieve some more chunky and mettlesome riffs with “Riding High” – which needs to be included on everyone’s ‘driving songs’ playlist or compilation. “Can’t Go Back” and “Distractions” keep it bawling and belting along into the belly of the album, and our interest is totally unfaltering. At this point we can realize Dirty Streets is all about getting in there, in the thick of it, finishing the job, and getting out. You won’t be hearing lengthy guitar solos with ‘finger pyrotechnics’, but solos that compliment the song without overpowering the presence of the rest of the band. Track length too; is clean and concise. The point is reached quickly and seldom does a song go over four minutes.

We get some morsels of filthy wah and a brilliant vocal delivery as the rhythm section forges out steel on “Take a Walk”. This segues to more depth in song writing and a slight genre shift with “Deaths Creep”. A more acoustic flavor is used with the Southern feeling “On The Way”. The riff-machine does return though, to close the album with “Trying to Remember”.

Distractions by Dirty Streets is not the usual chewing-gum-for-the-ears garbage you hear on mainstream modern rock radio airwaves. And thank God for that! If you enjoy bands like Wolfmother, Rival Sons, or any of the older bands we mentioned above; check out Distractions, as it’s definitely a good introduction to this band from Memphis, out of their five albums.

The Review: 8.5/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Loving Man
– The Sound
– Take a Walk
– Riding High

The Big Hit

– Loving Man

Review by Ethan Burke

Buy the album: Amazon | Amazon UK