The Richmond Sluts
A few more albums like this and I might really believe the "rock revival" is for real: Gluecifer, the Go, the Yo-Yo's, Nebula, the Donnas, the Black Halos and now these guys, all in the past year. I'm getting excited about "rock" again, and it seems to be catching. The Richmond Sluts are only the latest installment in this renewed sense of frenzy. Maybe it's the new millennium. Or maybe it's having a Republican in the White House again. Or maybe a whole new generation of bazooka babies is growing up and catching a whiff of the almighty throb and surmising that perhaps digital crap ain't all that great after all. What the Sluts do isn't complicated, but it sure sounds distinct because they approach it with such unselfconscious abandon?not "wow, look at us, we're a rock revival band," but as if they were the first ones to ever play this kind of overheated, well-lubricated sleaze. Given their young age, it's quite awe-inspiring because these guys logically have no reason to dedicate themselves to such a time-worn ethos. Yet it doesn't sound like they've wasted a lot of precious time poring over their old New York Dolls albums, either; more like somewhere along the line they were imbued with the true spirit of rock 'n' roll and that was all they needed to become the latest missionaries of this reckless crusade.
From the opening bars of "Take You Home" it's obvious that they've got the right idea. It's the same clang as classic Lyres/DMZ but with a more beefed-up guitar sound that comes from having lived through the Hellacopters, et al. Not that different from what the Flamin' Groovies were doing 30 years ago, but the Sluts put their own distinct stamp on it. Vocalist Shea Roberts is a really villainous-sounding ripsnarler who also happens to be the group's guitarist. It's hard to sing and play at the same time, but Shea is as good at it as Chuck Berry and his licks are that primal, albeit filtered through Steve Jones, Johnny Thunders and other prominent ax-bearers who adhere to the same shrapnel-flying tradition.
There's also a lot of cool garage-punk organ on this album, courtesy of Justin Lynn, that really helps bottom out a song like "Drive Me Wild." That one sounds like some weird Lyres/Sex Pistols marriage. The fact he's named Justin proves they actually are twentysomethings.
"Junky Queen" is another heavy-impact number that's almost too good to be believed?musically, lyrically etc. It's got those great Chuck Berry chords rendered Heartbreakers/Lazy Cowgirls style?and speaking of the Heartbreakers, what can you say about a song with lyrics like: "Strung out again/She's stealing shit from all of my friends/I hate her for that"? Other than that these guys are as much "naturals" at what they do as the Cowgirls, or Ramones and Dead Boys were. "Sad City" is a burning stomper out of the 60s Brit-r&b vein that brings to mind groups like Them, the Pretty Things and the Animals. It should be noted that Roberts, who produced this album, is truly gifted behind the boards and other groups should enlist him faster than you can say "Steve Albini"?one thing this album's got plenty of is bottom. The rhythm section of Chris Beltran (bass) and Brad Artley (drums) keeps the whole thing from spinning off into the ditch at the hands of its own uncontrollably self-destructive urges. The Sluts can play slow ("Bittersweet Kiss"), they can play fast ("City Girls"), but they always play commandingly. At the end of "Bittersweet Kiss" Roberts turns in one of the most joyous Johnny Thunders homages that you're ever likely to hear.
Look at the photo of these guys on the back, striking a pose that has served bands well ever since the 60s?just the right combination of glamour, sleaze and arrogance. This is the best album of its type since the Cowgirls' Ragged Soul and the fact these dirtballs hail from San Francisco reaffirms something I've suspected for a while now: given the Loud Family, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Donnas and others, that city is currently home to the most vibrant rock scene in the country.