Stockholm has produced a lot of great bands over the years and Sister are another act to add to the Swedish capital’s resume. This four piece have the sort of sound that “ I used to Fuck People Like you in Prison “ records (before they shortened it to the boring “People Like You”) used to release before they went almost exclusively psychobilly and street punk. Strange that Metal Blade have picked this up – but diversify or die (or cash in on chaos – cynical Matt).
Disguised Vultures is dirty, trashy, riff laden glam punk with more hooks than a Candyman convention and more riffs than a …. a …… Oh you get the idea ok????
I’ll get the comparisons out of the way now. These guys are reminiscent of Happy Revolvers with big choruses and driving verses. In parts there is a soupcon of early Murderdolls with better vocals and lack of horror schtick and even a smattering of Turbonegro in there.
SO now that we are all aware that the wheel has not been reinvented on this rock Volvo of vulva let’s move on. This is Sister’s second album – I have not heard the first but on the evidence of this I will dig around in the dirt for it.
Opener “My Enemy” blasts forth from the speakers with what sounds like a shout of “Reeces pieces, Paranoia , Disbelief!” could be another contender for kissthisguy.com misheard lyrics but I truly hope not. There is a SOAD style riff then the track trails off? Whaaaaa? Come back ….. I was left like a pimply teen reaching for a sixth form lovely by the side of an open air pool in North London ( too much info there) Thank fuck it returns and gallops off like a thoroughbred with an Iceland chef behind it. Frenetic paced glam punk is the order of the day and before I can draw breath “Sick” is bludgeoning my shell likes. Writing about music blah blah dancing blah architecture blah as many people are attributed to saying and this is music to experience rather than dip ones quill to. But while my ink is wet I will keep on keeping on.
The title track is a groovier affair than its predecessors and throws a little Alexisonfire into the mix which acts as an aural comma before “Arise” “We Salute ‘Em”and “Slay Yourself” pick up the pace again. In the blurb accompanying the album the plugger promises GG Allin meets G n R and “Slay Yourself” is exactly that. Such dirty riffs I needed a wet wipe wash at the end.
Second single “Naked” is an anomaly. It opens like a Stone Temple Pilots track then morphs into a Lordi style ballad. It works and may prove popular with radio stations in Europe but this is not what I want from Sister. Skip is not just a prawn flavoured snack.
Normal service is resumed with DMN . Fuck yeah! Foot to the floor, screaming music to break the sound barrier too. This track has the swagger of Crue about it when they were still dangerous for their cheekbones and drug habits rather than weight of their botox and divorce settlements. I’ll admit that I had to grab a whisky whilst reviewing this. On a school night too! (get me)
(Stop the) The Revolution is another groovy affair with a great chorus. This band are peddling the sort of riffs that Slegest and Sarke have been peppering my ears with recently, just replacing the Black Metal with GlamPunk.
As the acoustic break opens “Please Kill Me” I thought we were having a “Patience “moment. What follows is more like a lo fi Dropkick Murphy’s romp. A fine end to a fine record !
OK now I will let you in on a secret. The band look like a cross between Black Veil Brides and leftovers from The Batcave in 1985. Fuck it. I am not gonna hold it against them. I used to wear grey leopard print trousers with a snow washed denim jacket once.
Check these muddas out
(8.5/10 Matt Mason)
Leave a Reply