Kory- Vocals
Chas- Guitars
Buckshot- Bass
Dave- Drums

There will always be a place within Rock’n’Roll’s hallowed halls for beer-drinkin’ hell-raisin’ fuck-yer-girlfriend kinda sloppy wasted guitar-driven feel-good metal punk. Hello Dirty Rig. Like the pre-label Guns N’ Roses or the basement antics of the embryonic Aerosmith, Dirty Rig epitomizes the excitement to personally personify the danger that’s at the heart of good solid hard rock. It’s not safe. It’s certainly not politically correct. With songs like “Suck It,” “Drunk Again,” “Dogs,” “Hot Porno Star” and “If You See Kaye” (a modern take on an old blues theme), Dirty Rig is rife with sexual come-ons, drug references and the kind of fuck-you attitude that fuels the punkrock aesthetic. But it’s not angry. It just wants to rock for the sake of rock itself. You could say that “Cities” and title track “Rock Did It” has just a touch of frontman Kory Clarke’s leftover warnings from his years (’90 to ’95) as lead singer of Warrior Soul. But all that’s behind him now.

So fuck art, let’s dance.

“Dirty Rig is my drug,” says guitarist Chas, whose full-throttle approach is a throwback to axmen like Joe Perry, Jimmy Page and Angus Young. You’d swear there were two guitars upon hearing this band! Live, he’s a killer player, a veritable ear-bleeder with stage presence ala Zakk Wylde meets Ace Frehley. “It is my high,” he continues, “straight-up kick-ass rock’n’roll. Playing in this band brings me back to the days when I first heard Metallica. It makes you want to go out and get wasted with your friends.”

The band was hatched in 2003 when Chas, Dave and Buckshot found singer Ed Sebastian. Their 2004 Blood, Sweat & Beer Makes America Strong (The Music Cartel) debut made a few critic lists but trouble was brewing for the up’n’coming New York quartet. Sebastian seemed to be out-of-step with his mates and it all came to a boil at a gig at the New Jersey State Fair in the parking lot of Giant Stadium in the summer of 2005 when Sebastian simply didn’t show up. They took turns singing that night but were left without a voice the following morning, in more ways than one.

Kory Clarke was inbetween projects at the time. When Buckshot mentioned the fact that Dirty Rig was without a lead singer to a mutual friend of his and Clarke’s, the connection was made. Buckshot, who earned his sobriquet because—being from about six hours north of Manhattan—he knows his way around a gun, went to The Continental to see Clarke sing with a revamped Warrior Soul lineup. He stayed for the show and wound up putting a CD into Clarke’s hands. Initially cool at the prospect of joining, after repeated listenings, realizing that he was ready to make ground-floor rock’n’roll, frustrated at seeing how many of his dire political predictions had come true, he knew deep down the match fit like a glove.

The Escapi Records Rock Did It debut harnesses some wild lead guitar histrionics and a slambang rhythm section behind Kory Clarke’s most impassioned and impressive vocals of his career. It’s the kind of rock that if you listen to it in your car, you better have your seat belt on. It’s no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners, love-it-or-leave-the-room kind of rock. For Dirty Rig—even their name engenders debate amongst its devotees (is it a trucker reference or a druggie reference?)—there’s no middle ground. The studio may be their platform to get their ideas across to the masses but the stage is their habitat. That’s where they prowl. There’s no turning back now.—Mike Greenblatt