Album Review: Razorbats - “Mainline Rock ‘n’ Roll”

 

Hailing from Norway, this is the third album from glam-punks the Razorbats. The group have been slowly making some progress to getting an audience over here despite a less-than-stable line-up (the two guitarists are the only remaining members from their 2013 debut album Camp Rock) so how does Mainline Rock 'n' Roll stack up given its decidedly troubled genesis.

Well, the initial signs aren't good - the band the group remind me of more than anything on the opening duo of Rock 'n' Roll Kills and former single Working For The Weekend are poodle-rockers Europe. There's plenty of tunefulness and glossy production on here but somehow it just feels a bit over-produced and lacking the bite that similar groups like the Hellacopters or Turbonegro do.

I think maybe I went into this album with the wrong preconceptions and once you start to get your head around Razorbats as being less akin to the scuzzy likes of the Backyard Babies and more as a band influenced by Cheap Trick or Starz, they do become a bit easier to listen to. The group clearly have a good knack with a riff and a hook but the problem is that they just come across as a bit too poppy some of the time and you kind of wish they'd leap in with teeth bared rather than just circling their kill. It's telling that it's when they kick out the jams such as on the crunching The City, rifftastic closer Nightcrawlers and frenetic former single White Trash Radio that they sound their best but for every song like that there's something like Rebel Soul which just doesn't have the chops to get in your brain. It doesn't help that some of the lyrics on here are so obvious that they make Poison look like Rush either to be honest although the acoustic led ballad Venice at least proves they're willing to branch out and weirdly ends up being one of the better songs on here.

It's frustrating really because I think if the Razorbats could balance their brand of glam-punk just that little bit further towards the punk side then they could be a genuinely good band (more than anything, I think songs like Nightcrawlers point the way towards where they should be aiming). As it is they're decent but there are much better examples of this sort of music out there unfortunately.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌓🌑🌑🌑🌑 (6/10)

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