Rotten Tommys
Album Title: Shake It!
Record Label: To The Core Records
Review by Sal Serio
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The Rotten Tommys - Shake It!
Madison’s The Rotten Tommys are back with their new CD, ‘Shake It!’, as they attack the specter of the sophomore slump with both barrels burning. This new CD hosts louder guitars, better crafted songwriting, and much improved sound engineering. Plus, MORE is always better, right? The first Tommys release was 10 songs and 26 minutes, and now we have 13 songs in 39 minutes. Bonus!
Right off the bat, you’ve got to love a song about a Mad Rollin’ Doll, especially when it opens with chords reminiscent of the Sex Pistols. “Devil’s Night” is unique, with a spoken word, almost film noir Private Dick narrative feel to it. Well, maybe if Wayne Kramer was a private detective! “Shake It” has a 60’s style mod-surf styled riff, with classic Phil Spector “Wall Of Sound” styled background vocals. Also, “Shevil” features a similar retro sound, with evil laughter sprinkled in for good measure, reminding me of Poison Ivy from The Cramps, who holds a near and dear place in my heart.
In the Constructive Criticism category: the faux vinyl noises on “Shevil” are a tad annoying…. if you want crackles, just press vinyl! Also, sometimes the swears seem just to be for the sake of saying a swear word. Don’t try so hard, take the high road… and it’s classier to not use songs to bash ex-lovers, or other members of the opposite sex in general.
Better efforts: “Casualty” has more open-ended societal themed lyrics that could be applicable to a wider populous. The mid-song tempo-shift and slide guitar solo is pretty cool. “Wolfman” is up-tempo fun rock song with mass appeal. Almost has a hot rod challenge grudge match feel… like the soundtrack to a scene in a Russ Meyer or Roger Corman film.
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