Wattatata

Back in the old-school days, one of Eater's biggest selling points, at least press-wise, was their 14-year-old drummer. Much ink, too, was spilled over the Slits' teen screamer Ari Up, never mind the reams of paper expended on Bow Wow Wow's 15-year-old pin-up front girl. Punk was music for a new generation, played by that generation, and age was not an issue. With punk now hitting the big 3-0, and even the new-school heroes having reached that milestone, along comes DEK to insure that punk again acts its age. For starters, the quartet are all in their mid-teens, and rebellious to boot, turning their teen noses up at the same old tired punk apparel, and opting instead for snazzy, mod/psychedelic outfits, a wild visage of flares, stripes, spangles, and multi-colored checkerboards. Musically, however, they're pure, old-school, hardcore to the bone and twice as snotty. But enough patronizing, for DEK are as tight as any band twice their age and easily as competent, with a great ear for strong melodies, anthemic choruses, a nice line in rousing guitar solos, and a suitably dim lyrical view of the world. The world, however, has changed over the decades, and today few will take this young group seriously. They should. DEK's talent is self-evident, and even if their lyric writing is occasionally in need of a bit of maturation, musically the band are all ready for the big time. You can bet that by the time the bigwigs start treating them as a force to be reckoned with, DEK will already be a sensation.