By Jim Rowland
The Mary Tyler Whores, notorious punk rock legends from Florida, built a fearsome live reputation back in the day, sharing stages with the likes of The Misfits, Iggy Pop, GBH, Murphy’s Law and countless others. One thing they didn’t do, though, was release an album. That’s about to change as the reunited band are finally set to cement their reputation with their debut album ‘As Filthy As We Wanna Be’ this month, which includes guest appearances from Fishbone’s Angelo Moore and ÜS rappers Riff Raff and Mike G.
Last year, Iggy Pop himself championed the Whores by exposing their single ‘American Sex Fiend’ on his BBC Radio 6 programme, heightening interest in the band on this side of the Atlantic, and ushering in this album and an imminent tour. ‘As Filthy As We Wanna Be’ was produced by Greg Hetson (Circle Jerks, Bad Religion) at his own Hetson Sound Studios in Encino, California.
‘Fearsome’ is an appropriate word to describe this album as well, with the album’s 15 tracks bursting out of the speakers with punk rock passion and aggression that still finds room for melody.
The likes of the excellent ‘Hell On Wheels’, ‘Savage World’, ‘White Trash Girl’ and ‘Nightstalker’ are quality slices of hard, aggressive punk rock with a tight rock edge and catchy hooks galore. ‘Clamjacked’, featuring Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, throws a bit of a curveball into the mix with a surf-rock and horns vibe, as does the acoustic blues of ‘Phantom Love’, whilst ‘Down and Out’ is a blistering full-throttle hardcore belter.
In addition, there’s three exceptional ballsy cover versions given the Whores treatment, namely Lords of the New Church’s ‘Dance With Me’, Joy Division’s ‘Isolation’ and Devo’s ‘Whip It’, each one a belter.
Brilliantly produced, ‘As Filthy As We Wanna Be’ has a huge sound, is packed full of great tunes, packs a very powerful punch, and is a whole lot of fun too.
- ‘As Filthy As We Wanna Be’ will be released on Friday (9 October).