Label: Fueled by Ramen
Genre: Modern Rock
Links: https://laylo.com/oneokrock/m/latamtour
Line Up:
Taka [vocals]
Toru [guitar]
Tomoya [drums]
Ryota [bass]
Tracklist:
1. NASTY
2. Dystopia
3. Tropical Therapy
4. Delusion:All
5. Party’s Over
6. Puppets Can’t Control You
7. Tiny Pieces
8. This Can’t Be Us
9. +Matter
10. C.U.R.I.O.S.I.T.Y. feat. Paledusk and CHICO CARLITO
11. The Pilot ?/3
As One OK Rock celebrates their 20th anniversary, Detox arrives as the band’s 11th studio full length release. What this tells me is that I’ve missed 10 albums and 20 years worth of music, finding myself starting at a point where globally many bands will have formed, found fame, encountered problems, split up, reformed, split up again after the same problems emerged, and finally given up.
With “Nasty” One OK Rock hit the ground running, unlike many bands celebrating their 20th anniversary with an album that is merely a shadow of their glory days. I found myself repeating this track for far longer than a review should need simply because it really bangs. All of which—”+Matter“, “Puppets Can’t Control Us“, “Delusion” and “Dystopia“—released alongside album tracks after announcing the album late in 2024, had also passed me by until this moment, and I’m kicking myself for not listening to every band on Spotify to see what’s out there. I am trying but I’m still on the ‘A’s…
Their sound is as international as one could hope for, returning to One OK Rock. With a nod to My Chemical Romance but incorporating the modern trappings of Shinedown, they deliver crunchy, riff fuelled rock. They may be playing the big big venues in Japan where they’re massive, but they’ve established a name for themselves outside their home country, as proved by the October 2024 date at Wembley Arena. A date only available for me via Setlist.fm and YouTube—a sole UK date—until time travel is invented. On the strength of “Detox“, however, it can only be a matter of time before the band returns with a multi-date tour in the big sheds up and down the UK. I for one cannot wait.
“This Can’t Be Us” is my only niggle with the album. What should be a beautiful ballad somehow reminds me of John Travolta singing “Sandy” from the “Grease: The Motion Picture” soundtrack. That connection won’t be made by many fans. I may have grown up in the wrong era. That aside, I can’t recommend the rest of the album enough.
Score 9/10
Reviewed by Adrian Hextall
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