Can You Dig It?

A message scrawled on the disc's back cover exhorts listeners to "play this record loud." And it isn't an idle request. This Seattle-based quartet's garage-style punk rock erupts with fury and frenzy. The album gets off to a slam-bang start with "Girl You Should've Known." A blast of distorted guitar morphs into a big, fuzzy guitar riff in the grand tradition of Dave Davies' "You Really Got Me." In front of a pounding drumbeat, singer Dita Vox comes off as a tough chick in the Chrissie Hynde/Joan Jett mode. When she asks, "Do you love me?" it sounds as much a threat as a plea. Vox possesses a powerful, raw-edged voice that seems to barely contain her emotions. On the screaming soul of "Cream," she sounds like what Janis Joplin might have been if she had been raised in the punk era. The young band maintains their high-energy assault throughout their debut full-length. Even the relative subdued "No Condemnation" builds to a raucous crescendo. The group's guitarist, known as Sonic Smith (undoubtedly a nod to an MC5 influence), provides the bulk of disc's boisterous sound through noisy, yet not noisome, axe work. He also brings some nice instrumental diversity to the disc as he picks up the piano, organ harmonica, and sax, too. "Sugar," in particular, benefits from some tasty organ/guitar interplay and his bluesy harmonica playing wails through "No Condemnation" as well as on the rootsy acoustic track "Angeline" hidden at the disc's close. The band chose wisely in using Detroit producer Jim Diamond (the White Stripes, Andre Williams) and his highly regarded Ghetto Recorders Studio, as the band shares that city's R&B-laced garage punk sound. While there has been a number of female-fronted, garagey bands (from the Detroit Cobras to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) in recent years, Thee Emergency's nonstop energy, fueled by Vox's dynamic vocals, help to make Can You Dig It? a memorable debut.