Dr2 View Volume II by Ballz Deluxe

on 28 December 2011.

CD TITLE:	Volume II
ARTIST:	Ballz Deluxe
RELEASE DATE:	November 30th, 2010
BAND MEMBERS:	Rick Drinkard ~ (vocals)
	Scott Christy ~ (guitar,vox)
	Chuck Moberg ~ (guitar, vox)
	Justin Richter ~ (drums)
	Greg Zubal ~ (bass)

TRACK LISTINGS:	1) Tamed
	2) Family Reunion
	3) Destroy
	4) Lift Me Up
	5) Walking Away
	6) Are You Ready?
	7) Devil With The King's Card
	8) Rock Is Dead
	9) Next to You
	10) March

Dr2 View:

The aptly named Rock powerhouse, Ballz Deluxe, have bulled their way into the collective consciousness of Detroit music fans over the past 3 years by being authentic, angry, and yes, Ballzy! Their newest disc, Volume II, is no exception. With a collection of tunes that put DR2 into a pure rock-and-roll coma for a year, they rage through 10 tracks that are a belligerent, personal, in-your-face, fuck you to the status quo! Their music is so well written that it speaks for itself. Frontman, band leader and, if his lyrics are any indication, man-on-the-edge, Rick Drinkard is at his best on this disc, opening a door to his personal demons, trials and tribulations that connect the listener to some seriously painful events, yet somehow makes you feel sad, angry, and triumphant all at once. Melding licks laid down by Chuck Moberg, Scott Christy and a truly crunchy backbeat courtesy of Justin Richter and Greg “Zubalz”, this rhythm section has you punching the roof of the car, or anything else within range, to the beat of this disc which is nothing short of the real deal. As we said, the songs speak for themselves, with track 6 asking “Are You Ready?” finishing with the spoken refrain….”You ain’t ready..” but are you? With titles like “Destroy”, “Rock Is Dead”, “Family Reunion”(an ode to Drinkard’s tragic loss of his father this past year and a remarkable testament to RJ’s ability to turn personal trials into amazing music), this disc has no letup, it turns the intensity to 11 and keeps it there! Finishing the rampage, “March” is a personal favorite of DR2’s that begins with a speech sampled from a movie that is so perfect, so completely Ballz Deluxe, that it sums up precisely what we feel Ballz stands for and why we love them so much…..it starts…

“I don’t have to tell you things are bad, everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work, or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth, banks are going bust, shop keepers keep a gun under the counter, punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do and there’s no end to it. We know, the air is unfit to breath, and our food is unfit to eat. We sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be! We know things are bad, worse than bad, they’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy so we don’t go out anymore. We sit in the house and slowly the world we’re living in is getting smaller and all we say is please at least leave us alone in our living room, let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel belted radials and I won’t say anything, just leave us alone. Well I’m not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest, I don’t want you to riot, I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write. I don’t know what to do about the depression, and the inflation and the Russians (Jihadists) and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you’ve got to get mad! You’ve got to say, I’m a human being, God Damn it! My life has meaning!...Heeeyyyyy, did you here the news today, they sold our souls with all their lies, a revolution is on the way!! We won’t take this anymore,….picking ourselves up off the floor”

It is, in a nutshell what Ballz stands for. They don’t want a riot in the streets, but they do want to rage down the sidewalk! They know music can unite us, carry us away for a few minutes from all the shit around us, and Ballz Deluxe can do this better thann most! Raging against the misery in life in a way that makes you feel like you have it all handled, that for a few minutes you are triumphant as you listen to, or even better watch, this madman with the Viking beard, dance, strut, smile(with just a little bit of that crazy ting in his eyes) and generally own the stage. This band of madmen are primed and ready to explode!

As many of you may have heard, the past year has brought some change to Ballz Deluxe, with Christy and Richter moving on to other projects since the CD was recorded. But, the band has emerged stronger; more focused, and truly committed with new member Chris Castro behind the kit and “Chucky” going nuts on stage, raging alone on the axe. A turnover of band members like this, including Scott Christy, who was a founding member and producer for the band, could have been the death knell for Ballz Deluxe. Instead, the remaining members, plus Chris Castro have found a way to embrace the change and frankly, the new mix has brought them to an entirely new, and incredible level. So much so that the band is planning another new disc and have been writing new music furiously over the past couple months. We can’t wait to hear the next installment in the Ballz catalog! But, until then, enjoy Volume II, it is a must-have, oh and by the way, we added samples of each track so that hopefully Bianca can actually listen to the Album for once (we swear we’ll NEVER do a 3 sentence review without actually wearing out the Album beforehand…..really, she’s a music journalist….we can see why she no longer writes for RDW, no second helpings please!!)! You can find out more about the band’s upcoming dates and music here and as always you can find out about any breaking music, news, and reviews here at www.detroitrockreview.com . Until next time, Keep Rockin’!