Komodor – Nasty Habits
Release Date: 17th December 2021
Label: Soulseller Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Classic Detroit Rock (by Frenchmen!)
FFO: Ram Jam, James Gang, Sweet, Bob Seger, Grand Funk Railroad, T-Rex, Foghat.
Review By: Séamus Patrick Burke
Who doesn’t love Detroit? Well, besides people who actually live in Detroit. We should elaborate…
More specifically, who doesn’t love Detroit rock? The Motor City may not get much love right now from an economic standpoint, but it’s always been a major destination for music of all kinds: rock n’ roll, blues, soul, even gospel. It’s as American as Apple pie and crippling debt.
But it’s not just Americans that love what Detroit has to offer; the music has long been spread to all corners of Europe. Today, we find a quartet of French fans who’ve decided to make their fandom manifest. Coming off their 2019 self-titled EP, Brittany’s own Komodor decided to go one step further, recording their 70s tinged rock n’ roll on equipment you’d actually use in the 70s. They even took the time to have the record mastered by Jim Diamond, the Detroit producer famous for working with the White Stripes. How does it all sound, though?
In the age of laptop metal, Nasty Habits stands out in the best possible way. You can tell tubes are pushing this record thanks to the crackle of the bass and rhythm guitar. The scratch of the distortion makes the sound of the guitar sound like it’s bursting to get out. The spring reverb on the vocals is beyond lush, and the mix is just hot enough to set some vintage stereo systems afire. Actual lyrics are a big muddled, but Slyde Barnett’s vocals are on point. The real harmonizing is with the guitars. Despite aiming for a Detroit sound, the twin leads on songs like “Just An Escape” take the time to reach across the pond and tag Thin Lizzy a bit.
Every song on Nasty Habits is boisterously joyous, like testifying at the church of rock n’ roll. Sadly, organ doesn’t come until album closer “Moondrag”, but we do get some gentle analog synths on “Believe It”, along with a bitchin’ harmonica solo. The only way to describe the drums throughout the record is a word we rarely get to use: “rollicking.” They have that stomping, swampy sound that can’t point anywhere else but the seventies.
If one must nitpick (and one must always nitpick), the fact that the tempo never lets up might demand a lot of the average listener. No sitting back and getting blazed on this record. Detroit Rock makes you work for it. Iggy Pop would be proud of Komodor for not letting up, but Iggy also has an out-of-body experience every time he’s onstage. “Mamacita” offers a welcome change of pace, with a tribal beat and a spooky, bluesy tone that evokes the West Wild more than the Midwest. Other than that, this is the record you wanna play when you wanna jump around with your friends and maybe smash some furniture before the night’s out. There’s a great Bob Seger piano behind the title track, but burying it behind a thick wall of fuzz bass means we won’t be hearing this one in a car commercial any time soon.
One of the best sounds on Nasty Habits is at the end of “Debt City”, where you can hear the band and their crew laughing and hollering as they record. Komodor sound like they’re having fun making music that’s fun, and that makes me appreciate the effort.
Retro rock acts tend to raise eyebrows these days because they copy the aesthetic so much they forget to bring the energy. But Komodor is no Greta Van Fleet. They’re not copying the past, they’re introducing it to a new generation of fans. After a slog of over-produced programmed metal, they’re a great breath of fresh air for any rock fan to close out the year on. 
(5 / 5)
