FEBRUARY 2012

NITROGODS
Nitrogods
SPV/Steamhammer

Thirty second into this CD and your head will start to sweat. The Nitrogods hail from the bowels of Germany and give new meaning to the concept of power trio with an injection of 70’s had rock blues. They are loud, obnoxious and totally cool! A Motörhead tribute band in every sense with still enough originality to kick your teeth in. The band are Oimel Larcher (bass, vocals and Lemmy sound-a-like) with ex-Primal Fear dudes Henny Wolter (guitars, vocals) and Klaus Sperling (drums), together they form the perfect union of greasy, metallic, rock ‘n’ roll that gets under your skin like a Tijuana tattoo. First track in on their self-titled debut is all it takes to be converted. “Black Car Driving Man” is a slidewinder riff with a heart-pounding drum - starting off with a ‘belch’ as Larcher does a dead on impression of Lemmy. Three minutes of pure octane get the blood pumping as the band drag the listener through the chorus “I’m a black car drive man / motherfucker for life.” If that doesn’t do it, annihilate your ears with the chugging “Demolition Inc” where even your shoes aren’t safe with its devil’s boogie and crosscut razor guitar.

The record’s expanding mid-section packs a wallop with the dusty “At Least I’m Drunk”, a ZZ Top slide-bar blues that takes in the darker recesses for Muddy Water and Howlin’ Wolf. A minute in, it changes gear into a bar room sing along with a bit of Irish swagger and a slosh of heady brew. When Wolter takes over vocals in the rapid-fire “Gasoline” all bets are off as the guitar whips up a frenzy of AC/DC retro riffs and a pulverizing rhythm stampede. Larcher’s raspy voice is ideal for the band’s gritty style and delivery so it’s no surprise when Nazareth frontman Dan McCafferty steps in to share a duet on “Whiskey Wonderland”. The gravel in their combined voices could fill a fleet of dump trucks. The track is our personal favorite as it combines southern rock with Texas blues and spins in Motörhead with Staus Quo. Fastway’s Eddie Clark also lends a hand on “Wasted In Berlin” a big guitar tune delivered at warp speed bringing back all those fond memories of Hammersmith after dark.

Nitrogods isn’t all ‘in-you-face turbo-charged rock’, they take time out to groove it up a bit. With “License to Play Loud” they find that happy medium between hip shakin’ and toe tappin’ with an occasional solo flying in to add some edge. “Rifle Down” is all electric slide with serious swagger. Having done world tours with power metal band Primal Fear and Thunderhead guitarist Wolter knows his way around six strings and he’s not faking. The belter “Lipsynch Stars” is the band’s blues-suede comment on a music industry that living the lie. The band pride themselves on keeping it real; no Auto-tune, Melodyne, Beat Detective. They use a lot of vintage equipment, a 1966 Gretsch guitar through a 1963 Vox AC30, real drums, real bass, real vocals – all turned up very loud. Songs like the grinding “The Devil Dealt the Deck”, the pounding “Riptide” and jackhammered “Zombie Train” fly the flag of back-to-basics rock. Finally something worth bragging about!

Website: NITROGODS



JANUARY 2012

THE BLACK KEYS
El Camino
Nonesuch Records

2012 marks the ten-year anniversary of The Cutting Edge online webzine. For such a momentous occasion we needed a special album and in El Camino we found just that. It was in 2002 that we reviewed The Black Keys underground debut The Big Come Up. We were enamored with the duos ability to create dark blues-rock heralding back to the 1920s with a sound that reflected the primitive recording of the era. We are just as impressed with the way they have grown and developed into a sonic 1960-70s whirlwind. Over the years Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) have become the darlings of mainstream music media Spin, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly to name a few. They’ve pushed boundaries from stripped down delta blues to fuzzed out Howlin’ Wolf to post-punk garage. With El Camino they are firmly rooted in an era the spans late fifties to early seventies stadium rock with a touch of disco. Citing The Clash, The Cramps, T. Rex and the Ramones as inspiration the two-piece paint a broadening spectrum with the help of additional vocals and keyboards merging raw energy and pop sensibility with astonishing results.

The Black Keys introduced El Camino with an internet video of a middle-aged southern brother dancing and lip-syncing to the record’s opening track “Lonely Boy” in a parking garage. The primitive ‘garage’ guitar and hypnotic go-go beat of the song prove the boys were stepping up a notch to the pantheon of pop rock without overtly prostituting their art. After six albums, one would think the well had run dry but with the hollow retro sounds of “Dead and Gone” and the wicked Sonics-like riffing of “Gold On The Ceiling” there are still plenty of ideas for the band to chew on. Producer and co-writer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) was instrumental in crafting a more polished sheen to the duos down and dirty blues leaving the record more riff-driven. “Little Black Submarines” capitalized on the guitar that landing some where between Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin with an acoustic subtle hymn exploding into an all out tympanic assault. The wide use of harmonies also added texture to the group’s more layered sound with vocals and hand-clapping recorded in the bathroom of the studio to capture the natural echo.

It’s the middle of the record that really strikes a chord. Beginning with the eerie Jimmy Page-like tuning of “Run Right Back” the BK accentuate their love for hook-filled rock that eventually becomes more infectious with its dance-groove. Though the lyrics are often muddled in meaning, the tonality of the sung word becomes an instrument in and of itself. “Nova Baby and “Mind Eraser” find the momentum and pacing of the tune to sharpen their edge more than a deep philosophical meaning. The later is made all the better with a pounding boogie piano that shatters the band retro blues rut. “Sister” falls right in line with the band’s open chord tribute to glam while “Hell of a Season” and “Stop Stop” turn the sixties into a modern disco. Just as the El Camion coaché defined an era with the Stones ‘Miss You” and J. Geils Band “Flamethrower”, so the name defines the next great step for the Black Keys in their exploration of American root rock splendor.

Website: The Black Keys


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