JULY 2008 ONLINE EDITORIALS
Give Er Hell - Sleazy Rider
By Erik Myers
Voted “Best Hard Rock” band by the Fort Collins Musicians’ Association in April, Give Er Hell’s latest bragging right gets justified with their new album, Sleazy Rider.
One question, however, persists: is Sleazy Rider too gritty for it’s own good?
A familiar heavy sound dominates from start to finish: mud-speckled hard rock with throttling power chords and a country-fried attitude. It’s a perfect fit for lead singer Scottley Crue, whose grimy growling vocals are likeable to the speedy howling of Blind Marky Felchtone of Zeke.
Unfortunately, it’s with Crue’s lyrics where some problems persist. Alcohol, sex and ass-kicking are standard subject matter for any hard rock group, and Give ‘Er Hell is no exception. But if you have to force a dirty mind sensibility, you do so at the risk of coming off as ridiculous.
For example, the crazed riffs of “Mile High Salute” get slogged down with the distracting, offbeat lyrics: “She’s givin’ fuck-me eyes, she’s rubbin’ on my thighs, I’m staring at her tits, she’s givin’ me the fits.”
It almost works, but such lyrics ultimately induce eye rolling.
Fortunately, lyrics don’t matter much to fans of hard rock (this reviewer excluded). Good hard rock is founded on that unmistakable head-banging sound, which Sleazy Rider delivers. “The Rockness Monster” is a swooping behemoth of a track that features a badass bass solo, while “Bondage, James Bondage” boasts a thunder-boom riffs and an electric accelerando ending.
Props are definitely due for the bonus whiskey-inspired sound bites between tracks: pissing and puking have never sound so good.
... and a second opinion by Matthew Azrael Martin
Does any one recall the metal/rock band Augustine? Neither do I, although I saw them open for Rise Against a couple of years ago at the Starlight and a handful of times at Surfside Seven. The borderline screamo Augustine had small but loyal draw, but they lacked what people wanted: hard rock. Despite that they had a soled metal sound, they didn’t have the reach that whisky suckers wanted, so they reformed as quintet: Give Er Hell.
After listening to the album Sleazy Rider I felt dirty and defiled. The doctor assured me that the album did not give my ears herpes, but that it was a good idea to take a shower after. Since we are facing the end of the emo/screamo/whiny shoe-gaze music that has become so mainstream and stagnant, Give ‘Er Hell is the response: rock ‘n roll. There are no complicated metaphors or deep meanings – it is a simple rock album. Not that it is just rock but a return to southern rock, to be more specific. The first track: “Ride The Lightning Boltz to SweetTown” is about waking up from a hangover and going to the mountains in a truck to swim with a couple of girls, and getting loaded. Sounds like a good day.
Simple bass lines and lyrics that go: “Come on baby let’s go for a ride show you the other side, not your daddy’s kinda boy I’ll be your toy.” What else can one expect, except a drunken party anthem for the truck-driving hard-core Colorado fools? Dirty songs about filthy fun times are what rockers want. Back in the day when it was high hippy time in the 70s, it was ACDC to the rescue, and a return rock to music. When people know music is becoming too weird and complex, an example being: The Mars Volta with their over the top drum solos and complex time signatures, or just not what the rock spirit desires, they revert to music like Give Er Hell. It is fun, simple and fulfills the desire to get excited over hanging out and enjoying the now.