What might you expect of a rock band based in Santiago, Chile these days? How about songs with more than a hint of politics and social realism? That’s what you get with Dead Cockroach and they are just waiting to race you down the street to the beat of their somewhat theatrical rock songs.
Much of what you get here is, admittedly, straight by the numbers and Dead Cockroach clearly aren’t the kind of band to waste too much time polishing things up. That said, there is, at the very least, that message in the lyrics and Matías Gálvez performs as if he were destined to live in the spotlight. There is also, of course, plenty of muscular guitar work on display to keep the heat burning under the songs with both “Walking Dreams” and “Welcome to Pleasure” having more than enough riffs to power a teenage dream.
“Democracy is Over” is, despite its title, one of the more playful and melodic songs on the album and the casual listener might even be drawn to think that Dead Cockroach were actually from somewhere like southern California. When it comes down to it however, Dead Cockroach are a smarter than average rock band capable of giving the kind of robust performance that would, and should, win them friends on the festival circuit.
Available to download from Bandcamp.