There are few things in life that make me hum and haw in eager anticipation, and one of them is hearing a new batch of fuck tunes from the slimy superman of sensational sleaze, Mike Trash. Trash is one of the best songwriters around when it comes to injecting your favorite flash riffs with a fistful of snark, a shake of venom, and a high ball of backstage, underage, fleshy fetish. I mean, the shit that pours out of this guy is pure genius, or harrowing sin, depending on how you swing.
So, here we have six songs that live up to the standard set by The Erotic's seminal 2003 release, All That Glitters is Dead. Delivered by Trash and his two new henchmen, Jamie Hangover (bass) and Johnny Riott (drums), the music, for the most part, carries through - all snotty, catchy, and positively bursting with disease - but RNRKM takes a certain departure thematically. The decadence and delinquency is abandoned this time around for a more personal vision. Sure, Trash's exploits have always been about decadence and delinquency, but that's exactly what almost reserved him the shotgun seat beside the Reaper. Coincidentally, a clean and sober Trash is a vocally angrier Trash, who reaches guttural depths with his acid tongue on each and every song on this album, scratching and clawing his way through a diary of inner demons and shifty come-ons. The title track opener extols rock n' roll as both a disease and a cure ("Yesterday's gone but tomorrow's so long/It's never gonna get here/I'm so screwed up but I can't get enough/Am I ever gonna come down from here/Can't wait to kill tonight/My rock n' roll sacrifice/At the alter you will pray to be saved"), cleverly spun over winding Backyard Babies licks and Faster Pussycat kicks, while the Motley Crue meets Crank County Daredevils burst of bombastic, balls out rawk on "Drop the Bomb" has Trash at his best ("I'm the biggest thing since World War II"). The rest of the album rolls along just as sickly sweet with the band pulling out all the flash metal stops, especially on pleasers "I Like It (The Way That You Hate Me)" and "Drink, Fight, and Fuck." Of course, you can't have a hook heavy cock rock record without a tortured, foggy power ballad ("Only a Fool") or a blazing glam metal cover (I Wanna Be Somebody), so cheers to those songs as well.
It's a long journey to the middle, my friends. But if you ever feel like you ain't gonna make it, just toss this baby on, and remember Trash's most important message: "Rock n' roll is gonna save us all tonight." Hell, it worked for him, so let it work for you. ____
-Jeff Warren, Sleazegrinder
THE EROTICS
Rock N Roll Killing Machine
(Cacophone)
The follow-up to the band's shit-hot All That Glitters is Dead, Rock N Roll Killing Machine betters its celebrated predecessor in a mere six songs. Mike Trash and his sleazy crew are at their best here, blending glam rock, metal and punk into a fragrant stew that will satisfy the taste buds of fans of Kiss, the Dead Boys or the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs. Big guitars, bigger hooks and Trash's crushed charcoal snarl give rockers like the demanding "I Wanna Be Somebody," the cheerfully vulgar "Drink, Fight, and F*ck" ("Tonight's gonna end with a four-letter word!") and the smashing title toon a character that thrives on rock & roll. Taking his writing to the next level, Trash even gets sincere on "Only a Fool," a power ballad that beats anything by Aerosmith or Guns 'N Roses all to hell. Get that mini-skirt and those air guitars ready, folks. Michael Toland-Highbias.com
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