D4, Whelan's, Dublin, 22^nd September 2002

Sunday 22^nd September saw the D4 playing the second of two almost sold-out shows in Whelan's. Expectations were high in the venue because apparently the Saturday night gig was outstanding. The four New Zealander's on stage seemed oblivious to this pressure though as they calmly tuned up, the only calm thing they did all night in fact. They were simply here to play their trademark "balls to the wall rock n' roll" and that's exactly what they did. Unluckily, I missed both support acts, The NPB (who I heard put on a great show) and Large Mound, thanks to the huge crowds of Armagh fans flooding the streets of Dublin after their All-Ireland victory earlier in the day. Ah well, that's the way it goes though.

The D4 have been lumped into the garage rock scene that has exploded out of Detroit in the last few months, but they don't fit in neatly with the rest of the pack. There is something rawer, more basic about their sound. The four of them seem to sweat noise and dirty, dirty, rock music in the same way that Iggy Pop did when he was with The Stooges. It seeps throughout the room and, before you know it, you're nodding along in time with a song that's probably been written five times already, but still sounds great. It infects you.

The buzzsaw guitars and pounding animal drum work, especially on the likes of 'Invader Ace', made me think of when I used to go jamming with friends in their garages and we'd play three-chord rock songs through beat up amps, and that's exactly what this band is all about - fun times and rock n' roll. There is nothing fancy about their sound in the slightest; the only difference is that they've made the whole world their garage. Of course, they sound like The Ramones and, after about twenty minutes, you realise they're not really playing one long, catchy song, but a few songs that all stem from the same vein and the same few chords, but it's great anyway. Latest single 'Get Loose' went down a storm and then all too soon it was over. They've played here three times already this year, if they come back again don't miss them because you will regret not seeing these noisy boys play the dirty rock music.

Ken McGrath