Search - Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster :: Royal Society

Perfectly nasty rock and roll

Spaghetti A Go-Go | Portland, OR | 02/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So what exactly would manifest if, say, Nick Cave and Iggy Pop joined together in perfectly nasty rock and roll whoopee? I think the end product would be a little rock and roll devil child known as The Eighties

Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Their place and purpose on this earth is a nasty path walked with a dashingly sinister grin. Start with a delectable serving of twisted bedtime narratives peppered with inspiration from the likes of Brothers Grimm and other gothic ne'er-do-wells, throw in a dash of thrash and slash manic lunacy and you've got the album Royal Society. These fellows aren't trying to be bad, they simply exist on the toxic ingredients with which they were conceived and that's what makes them so incredibly legit.

The album seems to be split like some two-headed serpent slithering up through the bowels of Hades. The first half; crunched and jingly tales of caution and madness dipped in a witch's brew of devil's hymns. But where `The Dancing Girls' creeps to an unsettling close `The Fool' takes over and a second personality takes hold, grinding the psychobilly fanatics of The Cramps through a thrash metal coalition of country fried western and the best of British garage rock. "Give me your heart cuz I feel like the tin man!" Lux Interior would be proud. The songwriting gives the impression these lads put pen to paper in some thick wooded cabin listening to the darkest of Black Sabbath's catalogue. The songs `Puppy Dog Snails' and `Drunk on the Blood' come to mind with their demented

chorus recalling some of the most impish of medieval folklore.

It's an experience that leaves me fascinated by music's versatility and potential. It's hard to describe in words the atomic force behind the mad preacher vocals riding the guitar like a ghostrider tearing straight out of hell. It's a soundtrack for that long infernal drive through Death Valley on a summer day. Pop it in and fly like a bat straight outta hell!

My hands have been nailed to this album for more than a year and the zest hasn't worn. It's time tested and just as exhilarating. Find it somewhere, get it imported, it's a tough one to find but very worth the search. It'll put faith back into the void of great rock and roll acts.

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