As most people will know, reviewing a friend’s musical output is always tough, so I’m going to try to be as unbiased as possible during this review.
Ducking Punches is the stage moniker for Dan Allen, with the occasional help of some extra backing vocals and violin playing. His debut album is a collection of well-written folk driven acoustic punk rock numbers, which at times seem like they’re drenched in whisky, southern USA style.
The most pertinent feature of this full length is the thoroughly thought out song structures. No song sounds the same, with each track having its own identity. There’s the jaunty folk-punk ditty ‘Punk Rock Girl’, the Chuck Ragan-esque ‘Out For The Count’, and ‘Adventures Of My Liver And Lungs’ that could easily be a Frank Turner b-side, all sitting comfortably side-by-side on this album.
My personal favourite however has to be ‘D.I.Y Or Die’ – a proud homage to the UK’s punk rock scene. I can easily hear the chorus becoming a group sing-a-long moment at DP gigs over the coming months.
There are however some odd effects used on the vocals in certain places – an echo in ‘Wolf’ doesn’t seem necessary but maybe it’s just personal taste. I also feel that every now and then the vocals are strained needlessly; Dan’s got a good vocal range but there are a handful of occasions where he strays out of it.
On the whole though, this is a very strong release. While some songs are better than others, there is no filler, and Dan manages to engage you throughout. If you’re a fan of Frank or Chuck, I’d certainly recommend Ducking Punches.
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