Blacklist Union are a rock band. Their website says so, just in case there was any confusion. They rock it old-school. Blacklist Union’s biggest nod to modernity is the opening of their album with a sample. If I were better versed in movies, I might recognise it, but never mind. From thereon, it’s straight down to business with ‘Alive-n-Well Smack in the Middle of Hell’ and then there’s no stopping the riffs and clichés.
Musically, it’s pretty strong: they keep the licks and solos to a minimum, focusing instead on the thundering juggernaut powerchords. Tony West is a strong vocalist, too, and has a voice that’s got more guts than your average. They’re offering nothing new (the main riff to ‘Super Jaded’ leans heavily on ‘Welcome to Jungle’), but it’s very well executed and no mistake. But are they, as they claim on their website, ‘the next big rock band’ and ‘clearly on their way from the street to the elite’?
The production is full-on, everything cranked up and overloading. Oh but the lyrics…. I don’t expect Milton, Coleridge or even Ginsberg, but lines like ‘’I’m gonna shake it / I’m gonna break it / Ooh ooh yeah, I’m gonna make it’, ‘I ain’t no stranger to danger / I want the full flavor / I’ve for a taste you will savor… The lips between your legs move more than our mouth’ and ‘Don’t undermine the 69 and don’t flatline my serpentine’ are beyond crass, and ‘Take a bite of my apple / I’ll take a night with your peach / can you handle a mouthful’ are no better. They’d be shameful even if intended ironically, but there’s not a whiff of irony here, only the stench of cheap booze, fags, sweat and dried jizz.
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Blacklist Union Online
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