There's a lot of style on this EP. The music itself is sharp, simple and satisfying. It’s dark and heavy-ish rock with punky overtones. It’s played and sung with energy and conviction. The fast and furiousness, the doubled up harmonies and the drum thunder all work as intended – tight and true for sure. So why do I have doubts?
The graphics and associated blurb promise something more theatrical and mannered than I can hear in the recordings. "...sneering, anti-social vaudeville for the twenty-first century" is the claim, and 20s Berlin sleaze is implied in the art work. But musically they are much more mainstream and less arty. An obvious comparison would be QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE. Maybe not quite that inventive, but they wouldn’t let the show down if they were on the bill together.
Steve Maloney has a convincing sneer of a voice, with a bite like Mark E Smith on a good night. The rock moves in guitar bass and drum departments are fiercely well-performed, even if they do stay close to standard furrows. Four four rules with an iron fist and an old fashioned tweedly guitar solo make an appearance. Lyrics are a bit patched together and don't really match the critical loathing of all things normal that I would have expected from the PR.
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So it’s all a bit of a puzzle. I'm looking for the best yet, and I'm finding pretty OK. In territory this well explored, I think we need a couple of killer songs to reach out of the genre and do what the pistol on VICIOUS CABARET'S sleeve threatens.
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