If we may start at the end of “Pretty Vicious” there’s a ballad that Elton John would be proud of. Essentially, Luke Spiller tinkles away on the piano and can’t get a girl to fancy him.
His chosen option: “I went home and I vowed, I’m gonna be somebody someday.”
The opening song on this here shenanigans about 40 minutes before, there’s a genuinely brilliant horn-drenched rocker called “Too Good At Raising Hell” wherein your man is merrily delving into “class A’s or swimming pools” and having “sex so good it makes the neighbours smoke a cigarette”.
And he’s bored.
Welcome to The Struts in 2023, ladies and gents.
Massive in America, they ceased to be “Derby’s The Struts” a long time ago. It is not too far wide of the mark to suggest that “Pretty Vicious” is a return to form after the overt pop of “Strange Days” the 2020 album, albeit with the caveat that they still remained a wonderful live band.
Here, the title track has echoes of The Cult, “I Won’t Run” is an assault on pop charts, but with a note of defiance: “I don’t care what they might say, I’m better than them” sings Spiller.
The guitar solos are back here, and they’re majestic – Adam Slack has channelled his inner Joe Perry here – and everything it’s got sounds so damn good. “Hands On Me” is a string-laden ballad of rare skill, while “Do What You Want” is as good as this gets. Part The Stones, part ELO, all mixed up with a pinch of T-Rex, it sees Spiller at his most flamboyant: “Some of us are shepherds, baby, some of us like sheep” he intones on his best Marc Bolan and its absolutely glorious.
The thing about this is The Struts have got bigger and brasher, “Rockstar” lives its fantasies, the riff-tastic joy of “Remember The Name” shines like there is no arena big enough, and even “Bad Decisions” ostensibly a ballad, secretly harbours dreams of a Gold Disc.
“Better Love” does 80s pop. We’ll let them off, because it’s so damn catchy, although the premise that some girl has chosen another bloke over Spiller is far-fetched?
“Gimme Some Blood” goes further down the route of sounding like Oasis than the others on the record that have hinted it, and it’s- like the others – brilliant. And The Struts are cleverer than you think: “I got balls bigger than my brains” suggests Spiller here, and you know why? Because the man is a rock n roll star. He wanted to be. He decided to be. So he is.
There was a time on their second album when it was my firm belief that The Struts were going to save rock n roll. Whether it needs saving, who knows?
I’ll tell you this, though: “Pretty Vicious” is what happens when someone decides to be “Somebody Someday” and has the attitude to pull it off.
Rating 9 5/10
REVIEW: THE STRUTS – PRETTY VICIOUS (2023)
Published:
