Much in the same way Danzig captured the hearts and minds of angsty suburban outsiders in the eighties with B-horror themes, Radkey is doing the same with lean and mean third-generation punk rock riffs about superheroes.
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The band of brothers (Dee Radke, Isaiah and Solomon) from St. Joseph, MO are admitted fanboys, who showed their love for comics on their new album, Delicious Rock Noise on Another Century Records.
The album (stream below) is actually a re-release of their 2015 debut Dark Black Makeup, and features two new bonus tracks, a cover “Marvel” (made famous by The Lemons) and the band’s rendition of the Teen Titans theme song.
The coming-of-age release shows the band rounding into classic garage punk/heavy metal pop form and not afraid to wear their influences (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag, comics, anime) like pins on their sleeveless denim jackets.
I had a chance to get all nerdy with Radkey over email to chat about all things superhero and how it relates to their music.
CRAVE: Every superhero has that moment when they realize what they must use their powers for. What was that “with great power comes great responsibility” moment for you guys as a band?
RADKEY: It would probably be when we discovered our sound for the first time. It took a really long time, but one time we were jamming and everything finally started to make sense. It’s a really exciting time.
Alter egos are big part of superheroes in that they allow them to be who they’re or want to be? How are you different on-stage than off it?
We’re pretty chill and quiet offstage. Playing live is definitely our way to be really crazy and unlike how we ever really are in real life.
If you guys could have a super power what would it be?
Isaiah: I’m thinking lighting powers.
Dee: Teleportation would be cool.
Solomon: I’d definitely take super speed.
If the Avengers were a rock super group what roles/instruments would they play?
Iron Man would be the lead singer that can’t really sing, but everyone’s afraid to tell him because he bought everything. Captain America would be the not very good lead guitar. The Hulk is the hype man. Thor the drummer with very simple beats. Scarlet Witch rhythm guitar with lots of effects. Falcon is the bassist with no spotlight. Black Widow is sound engineer. And Hawkeye’s the light guy.
For more info on Radkey go here. They’re currently on tour and play tonight at Resident in Los Angeles. See below for remaining schedule:
