Back in 2021 I reviewed the debut album from The Swaggerlies. It was glorious. They’d forged on after the tragedy of the death of their co-founder Ron “Rontrose” Heathman (ex-Supersuckers).
Now the Seattle mob are back, with “Undoing” an absolute beauty of an EP. It’s perfect.
I don’t know what it is about records that start with a solo, but nothing screams rock ‘n roll louder.
“Undoing The Do” sounds like a gang, and it sounds like a gang you don’t want to cross. Guitarist “Captain” Ron Stohr isn’t someone who plays his guitar by his chest, no sir. This is lo-slung to its core.
“Group Death Stare” takes the vibe and runs with it. “we want blood,” says Earl Thunders (perhaps not his real name) I’m saying he’ll find it, and if he doesn’t, the bass will, the four-string sounds filthy.
And speaking of fours, this quartet of songs is stunning. “Tie Me To Your Tracks” doesn’t sound like it’s asking nicely, but its chorus has an insistence.
And the last one, “Bandwagon” is just as good. There’s a Wildhearts-ish guitar line, but really, it proves that rock n roll will never die. 13 minutes and 57 seconds of music that doesn’t so much save rock n roll as stick its middle finger up to anyone that thought it was dead in the damn first place.
Rating 10/10
