If you follow rock music in any capacity, then you already know that the last few years have been the greatest era in the history of the storied genre. That said, rockers The Corrupted Hearts aren’t letting the current culture stop them from banging out some of the slickest noise around in their new single “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down,” an aptly-titled piece of raw thunder. Whether you’re a serious rock fan or simply a casual observer of the big beats this style of music is known for, “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down” is a song and video you should be examining right now.
There’s a heavy alternative rock influence over the drum style in this track that immediately made me think of another time right out of the box, but this isn’t to say that anything here feels recycled or unoriginal. On the contrary, the spirit of unrelenting rock charisma that many say died when grunge gave way to commercial pressures so many years ago appears to be alive and well in “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down,” hitting us at full force between the melodic eruptions being distributed from behind the microphone. It’s a tip of the cap to the past yet the depth of the songwriting feels very here-and-now.
The video for “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down” is pretty cut and dry, even with all of the minimalism trends making it into the headlines lately, but The Corrupted Hearts didn’t need to fill these shots with any more grandiosity than they already did. For the music to remain the primary object of our affection, anything more than what we’re seeing in this performance-centric piece needed to be kept on the sidelines, which is something I wish this group’s rivals would try doing some time. These guys are musicians through and through, and their new video asserts where their priorities are – and hopefully where they’ll stand in the future as well.
Though I like the studio version of “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down,” I can’t help but wonder whether or not this song was written specifically with the stage in mind. To some degree, all rock songs are composed with the idea of the band exchanging emotions with a crowded concert hall full of people, but this track seems particularly geared towards live performances in which its stomp could be properly received. Their upcoming releases will tell us more about their potential, but this is definitely enough to get me more than a little excited.
The Corrupted Hearts still have a ways to go before they can claim the same place in the hierarchy of great rock dynasties that some of their influences currently do, but with “We Dug a Ditch & Laid Down” as their latest official release, the future of their music is looking very bright indeed. Rock has been accused of being dead so many times in the last two decades that it’s almost surprising critics are even saying it in 2023, and in this single, The Corrupted Hearts make it all the more difficult to believe in as much with their riff-powered presence.
Mindy McCall
