Back in the good old days, many a rock band would get a record deal and duly head out on the road for a taste of tour bus depravity as they strutted and strummed their way through the heartlands. Nowadays, the game is not really the same and it is more likely that the only bus a band on the up and up will board is the tour bus of life. “Stand And Be Recognized” by Brooklyn band The Nude perhaps reflects this new reality.
“Stand And Be Recognized” is by no means a playful album but The Nude - Henry Ott, Derrick Duemler, Luke Bergstedt and Nick Cageao - put more into their lyrics than simply a bit of the old devil worship so beloved of bands holding court in the metallic end of the rock genre. Whilst not quite spiritual, the words certainly do not sound contrived to meet the expectations of the genre and, with ghost of redemption sometimes singing along, The Nude display a lyrical maturity that stops them from being accused of being mere followers of the leather and lace trail. Luke Bergstedt’s theatrical vocals fit right into this mix and there are plenty of power chords – but a curious restraint when it comes to guitar pyrotechnics – to keep the listener in low key air guitar mode all the way up and over the seven minute mark.
If you like your rock songs to stay this side of Armageddon yet simultaneously generate enough drama to make the words dig deeper than the music then The Nude might just be the skin game that you are looking for.