Album Review: The Dukes "Smoke Against The Beat"

France has been known to give the world many things; Rock music has never been one of them. Well, that is about to change. The dynamic duo of Francois “Shanka” Maigret and Greg Jacks, known as The Dukes, are set to release their latest album Smoke Against the Beat on July 28^th 2017 via Concrete Entertainment. The duo just wrapped a tour ahead of the release playing on the Vans Warped Tour as well as a handful of one off dates.

Smoke against the Beat is a 12 song mixed bag of greatness. There is nothing flat or repetitive about this album that you find with a lot of today’s modern rock albums. The lead single “Black Hole Love” opens up with gritty guitar tone that leads into popping little riffs before the vocals and drums come in to all meld together. It sounds as if this is a full band and not just a two man show. “We need more cow bell.” Well “Alright” gives you that cowbell at the open of the song which seems to be a theme of this album… really strong and fun opening runs and grabs the attention of the listener. Not only can The Dukes bring you the rock they can get downright funky. “Gold Digger” has this funky, groovy sound to it that transports you to that smoky underground bar scene with all the cool cats just bobbing their heads to that smooth beat. If I had to place an adjective on this album it would simply be, fun. Yes, this is a fun album. There is no way to put this on and not enjoy yourselves. It’s easy to tell that The Dukes had the time of their lives creating this album and it shines through on this great work of art.