By DJ Monk
Italy may be the European nexus of the current beer bug outbreak, but it is also a hotbed of some pretty decent music at the moment: it’s almost as if every band on the boot-shaped peninsula had advance warning of the pending pandemic and all decided to release brand new albums at around the same time, in order to entertain the Überverse during a chaotic time of fear and self-isolation. The latest exemplars are Tuscany sleaze rockers 17 Crash, who have taken the opportunity of exploiting all the gig-free time we find ourselves facing to present us with this, their highly impressive third album…
With another apposite album title that neatly summarizes the state in which the Überverse finds itself at this moment in time, the quintet – and especially vocalist Ros Crash (yes, they all have those archetypal sleazebag nom-de-plumes, such as CJ Blackdog and Wildcat) – waste little time in grinding their groins straight into your face and covering it with cum. This is sleaze rock ripped straight from the back alleys of the Strip and transported into today’s troubled times, making no apology for either its inane insanity or its lascivious droolishness, but concentrating on making you forgetting the woes of the outside world for the duration of its ten tracks and 37 minutes.
And, in that regard, it succeeds, as ‘Through Hell And Back’ is a highly entertaining and carefree album. Filled with huge hooks, massive melodies and earworm choruses, it will have you reaching for that hairbrush and backcombing what’s left of your barnet while you try to squeeze into that ancient pair of spandex lying in the bottom of your wardrobe – that’s when you not using said brush to mime in the mirror, pretending that you’re performing on a massive arena stage (albeit a probably empty one, given the current circumstances).
If you love your ‘80s hair metal mixed with massive doses of radio friendly AOR, then 17 Crash provide the perfect antidote for all that ails this fucked up world of ours at the moment.
- ‘Through Hell And Back’ is released tomorrow (Friday 20 March). You can get your copy HERE.
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