Despite a lengthy career, Dan Patlansky only truly arrived on the international scene with 2015’s stunning ‘Dear Silence Thieves’. A stinging retort against those who insist on talking their way through live shows, ‘Dear Silence Thieves was, and is, a masterpiece – a hard rocking, blues-fuelled explosion of heavy riffing and memorable melodies. Spawning two singles, ‘backbite’ and ‘fetch your spade’ and a high profile support slot with guitar god Joe Satriani, the album propelled Dan Patlansky’s career deservedly into the stratosphere, and so it is with no small amount of expectation that ‘Introvertigo’ arrived on our doorstep. Described by Dan as his most accomplished album to date, ‘Introvertigo’ does much to capture the chimerical emotions of an artist propelled further into the spotlight than he ever expected and yet, paradoxically, it looks set to push Dan ever-further up the ladder of success with its hard hitting riffs and potent anthems.
Previewed on the last tour, ‘run’ opens the album like a thunderbolt. A raw, brutal blast that perfectly captures Dan’s sweat-soaked live performances, ‘Run’ is everything you’ve come to expect from Dan and more with a carefully restrained verse giving way to a chorus that is as savage an expression of ecstasy as can be found on record. In contrast, ‘Poor old john’ is a trad-blues number that draws upon Dan’s gritty voice and a gnarled guitar riff that is straight out of a Louisiana swamp. With a swinging chorus and a solo that emerges woozily from chiming reverb and fizzing distortion, ‘poor Old John’ is a memorable outing, only for ‘Sonnova faith’ to kick out a loose groove that heads off into Texas for its inspiration. With a huge drum beat underpinning the hotwired riff and Dan’s dusty vocal ringing out clear over it all, ‘Sonnova faith’ is a rock ‘n’ roll gem that sounds like Rival sons jamming on ZZ Top and it flat out rocks. A slower, more introspective piece, ‘loosen up the grip’ is set to a lone piano, Dan building the song gently adding in a guitar solo here or a taut beat there. Arguably the sort of anthem that Kings of Leon always dreamed of writing, ‘loosen up the grip’ is a beautifully arranged song and a reminder of Dan’s versatility. The first side concludes with ‘heartbeat’, an album highlight which sounds like Aerosmith and Guns ‘n’ Roses going head to head with the Allman Brothers. Dark, bluesy and heavy as a sledgehammer, ‘heartbeat’ is surely the album’s next single.
The second half of the album opens up with the bright, breezy ‘Stop the messin’’. Able to shift tempo on a knife edge, Dan still maintains the power to surprise, and the track feels like a spiritual successor to ‘Backbite’ with its John Paul Jones-referencing funky bass and huge chorus. Next up is ‘bet on me’, a song that references Pearl Jam’s ‘Yellow ledbetter’ with its jangly guitar refrain and addictive melody. A soulful number, ‘still wanna be your man’ sounds like Dan’s take on Janis Joplin, with atypically restrained guitar and organ flourishes creating an air of gentle longing that is quite affecting. A song that slowly reveals itself to the listener, it ends with some truly heroic soloing and it’s easy to imagine this slow burning number proving to be a highlight of Dan’s live show. With the album rapidly heading toward its conclusion, ‘Western decay’ is a fast paced lament that matches a surprisingly upbeat musical backdrop to lyrics that feel just a touch world weary. The album draws to a close with the hard riffing ‘Queen puree’ which is pure homage to Jimi Hendrix, with Dan unleashing hell upon his fretboard in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has ever seen him in the flesh.
A short album (barely even hitting forty minutes), ‘introvertigo harks back to the days when vinyl was the primary format and when albums had to be short and to the point out of necessity. There’s not a hint of filler here, just ten forthright songs that take in all of Dan’s myriad influences from trad-blues to grunge (and everything in between), without ever breaking stride. Theo Crous has done a fantastic job of capturing the raw grit of Dan’s live sound whilst, at the same time, making sure that a certain amount of studio depth emerges, the result being an album that hits you square between the eyes with its force and power. It’s hard to believe that ‘dear silence thieves’ could be improved on (really, it’s that good) and yet, ‘Introvertigo’ does exactly that. Come the end of the year, Dan’s liable to end up on all the lists again with this stand-out effort, but in the meantime this is an essential purchase, not just for those familiar with Dan’s previous efforts, but for anyone who digs guitar driven music.
