Dante HH “Motorhound”

URL: http://motorhound.danterockband.com/

Dante HH’s first outing, The Rorschach Manifesto, released in 2011, is several years apart from their 2017 release but they’re now relocated from Colombia to LA. The current line-up consists of Kami Rayne on vocals, Alexx Black on rhythm guitar, Gonzo on lead guitar, Andy Summers III on drums, and Keisuke Motoki on upright bass. To be honest I’ve never heard anyone do such a remarkable tribute without having to cover a song by doing it, but this is something quite different that way, which pays homage without having to recreate a song in the process. On the latest single “Motorhound” they mostly let it rip Motorhead style.

This is a unique opportunity to describe a unique style tribute without going down the road of dodgy covers and impersonations. The most important thing when doing this is to make sure to cover and pay tribute to the style and sound of the original without sounding like copying them. Dante HH work it out so well you’d only know it’s a tribute by way of promoting the fact that it is. And that’s how this track wins me over, even more than the excellent impression that it still comes off to be, to anyone looking for that element anyway.

When I say it works, I mean they make the right references to remind of Motorhead by mentioning such words as “born too loose” and “ace of spades” to give it the right tribute marks without reprinting song lyrics per say. This is another important thing because it takes great care in the homage department without copying, so it is rather improvised from certain Motorhead refrains. When you put two and two together here it makes more than three, it makes Dante HH the subject in charge either way you slice it.

I’m also going to be honest in saying that I was lucky enough to see Motorhead live many times in their heyday including opening for Ozzy Ozbourne in 1981, so I’m well-seasoned in the Lemmy phenomena. “Motorhound” is a sort of tribute to Lemmy himself, and the music of Motorhead, which is why it comes out as good as it gets for such a songwriting concept. At one point I felt like it was Motorhead playing a new song or something covered that I hadn’t previously heard. Not that originals usually aren’t always best, but I’ve heard my share of songs covered by musicians as good as or dare I say better than the originals.

I’m not even putting them in the same branding league, but Dante HH have their own sound to write home to Colombia about, and this is a killer effort to say the least. It has all the right Motorhead clichés without placing too many about the song. This is a very cleverly written and recorded track with tons of moxie in the same way Lemmy rolled with Motorhead and even Hawkwind and other projects. You feel it all somehow, and that’s a testament to Dante HH and CO.

Mindy McCall