Ronnie Simmons and The Redback Spiders are currently touring their “Bite! Part One” EP across Australia including sold out shows as special guests for glam rock legends The Sweet. The Redback Spiders are Hayden McGoogan and Sean Anderson on guitar, Tommy Hills on bass and Chip Scanu on drums.

Australian Rock guitarist Ronnie Simmons and his new band The Redback Spiders debut their killer punk influenced EP ‘Bite! Part One’ Today. Based in Sydney Australia now, Ronnie Simmons (Rose Tattoo, Richie Ramone, ex-Faster Pussycat) fronts The Redback Spiders who are Influenced by classic punk and Australian pub rock with a tinge of ska. The EP “Bite! Part One” was written and produced by Ronnie, who played all guitars, saxophone and sang, it was engineered and mixed by Clay Davies (Bullets and Octane) at One More Time Recording in Los Angeles. The EP features iconic industry legends Richie Ramone (The Ramones) on drums, Johnny Martin (LA Guns) on bass, Danny Nordahl (Faster Pussycat) and Scott Churilla (Reverend Horton Heat & The Supersuckers) on backing vocals. The record is a sonic account of Ronnie’s journey cutting his musical teeth in the pubs of Sydney Australia, to living in Hollywood California, touring the world and life in 2024 as a rock ’n’ roller.

Having got a tip of the hat fro none other than Slash things are looking good for Ronnie. The six track EP kicks off in sprightly fashion with the energetic ‘Little Miss Understood’that has the seal of former Ramone Ritchie Ramone on the drums in the engine room cooking up a punchy beat with Rhythm section expert Johnny Martin who add some drive in the engine room that helps rock out on this upbeat opener. I can see how Slash would have been on board with the tone of that guitar solo that rips out of the speakers.

The flow of this ep is excellent and with the big bright production it has real potential to do well anywhere on this spinning rock. ‘Alone With You’ has an ear on the FM radio stations if they’re looking for a fix of big well-produced rock n roll. It’s got a big melody and enough dirt to pull this off.

‘You’d Think I’d Learnt’ is where the Ska enters which was unexpected in the verses but the chorus has attitude. With there only being half a dozen songs its bite-sized enough to consume in one go and the Ska continues with ‘Don’t Follow Me’ with its big horn honkin’ chorus to skank along to.

To be fair all the choruses are strong and regardless of the style it flows really well. I particularly like ‘Artificially Sweet’ for its punch but its cheeky wink with the pop melody but the guitars rip and the chorus ensemble is top-notch.

The EP closes with a rockin’ ‘Eaten Alive’ with its storytelling quality I’m left wanting more and looking forward to my second Bite already. Way to go Ronnie you got this.  

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Author: Dom Daley