This music reviewing lark is easy when the media you get sent for review is as consistently badass as the output from Albany ne’er-do-wells, The Erotics. I’ve been throwing the longhorns in the band’s direction for the majority of its 20+ years of decibel debauchery and, happily, it seems like there is little chance of this runaway musical muscle car slowing down any time soon.

With infamous producer Don Fury (Agnostic Front, Madball, Sick Of It All) once again at the controls of an Erotics release, ‘Ride It To Death!’ is a five-track extended player that pushes every button required by fans of the band’s back catalogue whilst also managing, somehow, to up the aural ante. Just like the rat rod that graces the band photography on this new EP, this is a straightforward rock ‘n’ roll framework embellished with all manner of crypt-cool accessories, thereby fashioning something unique and dastardly desirable. That, my friends, is The Erotics.

Opening track, ‘When The Wolves Are Howlin’, is a pure Eighties throwback that circles around a surprisingly melodic riff before transforming into a typical fang-in-cheek Erotics horror-drenched stormer that is guaranteed to appear on the soundtrack to a lycanthropic B-movie before the sun rises. You won’t be surprised to read that second track, ‘Scream Like A Demon’, doesn’t stray far from the wrong side of the tracks; infectious, biting guitar work strutting around a typically dark, despicable theme.

The EP’s title track is a full-throttle, high-octane, scuzzed-up workout that is part classic KISS, part classic Aerosmith, by way of Death Race 2000. This is akin to prime Eighties stadium rock… if the stadium was created by John Carpenter circa ‘Escape From New York’. It’s the EP’s fourth track, though, that might just be the standout cut. ‘Bless Your Heart’ is a swaggering rock ‘n’ roller that echoes The Dogs D’Amour at their raucous best; Mike Trash (who is in fine voice throughout this whole EP) channelling Tyla and in doing so fronting one of the band’s finest tunes of recent times. That said, there isn’t the slightest whiff of a weak track on this five-tracker; closer ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’ another hook-smeared exercise in effortless, retro-fuelled sleaze rock ‘n’ roll that is as wicked as it is darkly life-affirming. Yes, we need bands like The Erotics – some people haven’t realised it yet (fuck me, they’ve had enough time!), but as long as us cool kids have then this spinning rock doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be stuck on.

One complaint – five tracks just aren’t enough! In this form I want a fifteen track Erotics record – keep everything crossed for the near future. Summing up, the only people who claim to love rock ‘n’ roll yet don’t like The Erotics would have to be either allergic to truly cool bands or someone with an agenda – like a reviewer who developed a grudge against the band for pathetic reasons at some shitty festival, and, let’s be honest, who cares about their opinions anyway? Long live The Erotics!

Buy It Here

Facebook

Author: Gaz Tidey