Just going to put this out there.
If you like 70s sounding, fuzzy, garage rock n roll (and as I was always going to mention The Hellacopters at some point in this review, I might as well do it now!) then Mad Dogs are exactly the cure for what ails you.
If you don’t then skip this next 500 words and let the rest of us get on with it, because I am not kidding, it’ll take you about four seconds to work out whether this is for you. It starts like a cannon going off in the Skittles Factory and shooting out an explosion of colour. Indeed, “Leave Your Mark On What You Do” (which does exactly that in fairness) is a burst of energy that leaves you thinking that anything is possible and nothing is off limits.
One of those bands that seem intent on cramming about 100 riffs into every song, Mad Dogs don’t let up. Not even a bit.
But, as “No Regrets” proves, they aren’t one of those bands that are all bluster and no energy. There’s harmony here, a real tune. A suggestion that if they are going to get some action, now, as it were, they are going to do it on their own terms.
Marco Cipolletti does his best Nicke Andersson impression on “Not Waiting”, a genuine highlight for two reasons. First, cowbell, and lots of it, and second, the organ on the intro. Magnificent.
When I put this on my iPod, it helpfully categorised it for me as “Rock N Roll, Garage Rock, Sleaze Rock” (a holy trinity if ever there was one!) and “Take The Time” makes good on the second one. There’s a rawness here. An authentic 70s feel. I don’t know whether it was really recorded on retro equipment, but crikey it sounds like it was.
“….Testify” has a couple of slower moments. One of these “What Do You Say” is odd in that in that it simultaneously sounds wholesome and sleazy. There’s a bit of a laid back blues, The Doors feel, anyway.
“Hard Fight” which features Giacomo Zepponi beating his drums as if they’ve stolen his girlfriend, is a proper boogie, but in truth, whatever this record does – whether its that or the more tender and heartfelt “Ben’s Legacy”, it sounds incredible.
And why? Well the answer lies in the title and feel of “I Believe In Rock N Roll”. Here’s a band that if they weren’t playing would be watching a band that sounded like this. This is a lifestyle to them, not a choice.
The title track is a neat summation of the whole thing. A maelstrom that goes from the bass that echoes “Pump It Up” to the idea that there’s about three songs going on all at once – and they all make perfect sense in the end.
The suggestion that this band – this album even – could have been anything, is underscored by the last one. “Postcard From Nowhere” never left the 60s and is as blissed out as it is calm. It’s just that mostly, this album is a celebration of rock n roll.
There’s one band name that I haven’t mentioned in this review and they hang over it all: Kiss. Now, hands up here, I don’t like Kiss particularly, and this proves why (at least to me). What I want is the energy, the rawness, the edginess, that this has. I never see that in Kiss – at least past about 1977 anyway.
All those things are in abundance here, and I am prepared to testify to it.
Rating 9/10
