These guys have a song called “Kiss Tried To Kill Me”. With that they don’t mean an actual kiss, but the band Kiss. So, that alone should really have made me their biggest fan. However, how much I wanted to love that song, I just couldn’t. Not that I thought that the song was crap, but it wasn’t all that great either. Much for the fact that I’m not that a big fan of the clattering and rowdy garage rock that they play. So, when they released this, their second album, it passed me by unnoticed because I simply didn’t care. One day, an issue of the English rock mag Classic Rock landed in my letter box and with that mag came a compilation CD called “The Best Of 2013” or something like that (I could be wrong about the title, mind you…) and that CD featured song by The Black Spiders called “Balls”. Now, not only did that song rock me hard, I also love it when bands give their songs such names. For some reason, when I see a song title like that, I think “attitude” and when I think that, I just have to check the band out. Oh yeah, the song was a killer as well. The band has been playing since 2008 and they have since then realised some singles and E.P.’s and in 2011 they didn’t only release their debut album, Sons Of The North, but also a compilation album of their two E.P’s and their first single called Volume. The band hails from Sheffield, England (same as Def Leppard but no other resemblance), I might add if anyone’s dying to know.
After one listen, the music was much as I expected, but after the “Balls” experience (that didn’t sound all that great, did it…?) I found this album rather interesting, so I gave it another go through my headphones (I now proudly own Motörhead’s Bomber Headphönes – brilliant gear!) and I must say that despite playing music I normally don’t give a dime for, this album surprised me in a good way. Just goes to show that genres doesn’t matter one iota, if you can write great, catchy and memorable songs and apparently The Black Spiders know how to do just that. The first song “Knock You Down” does exactly that, maybe it doesn’t really stick at first, but the song is hard, raw and noisy – quite a good opener. The Hellacopters meets Motörhead in “Stick It To The Man” and it kicks some major ass (it also reminds me of Swedish retro rockers Captain Murphy, if anyone knows who they were), the already mentioned “Balls” is plain awesome and perfect if your party starts to slow down and “Put Love In Its Place” is the closest thing to a punk rock ballad I have ever heard – brilliant stuff. “Raised By Wolves” is a slammin’ rocker with a big pop feel, “Creatures” is raw, hard and punky but with a great melody and “Sleepy Demon” is the album’s heaviest track, kind of like early Black Sabbath with a garage rock vibe – maybe my favourite song on the entire album.
When I read back on what I just wrote, I know I shouldn’t like this album – but I do. A lot! Their kind of garage-rock-punk stuff really kicks my butt and even though this stuff usually isn’t up my alley, attitude, balls, in your face rock and most important of all, great songs are all ingredients that makes me get up and go. Besides, I think that The Black Spiders is a really cool name and it makes me a bit happy that I now can dig the band who wrote “Kiss Tried To Kill Me”. Cheers!
Jon Wilmenius (7/10)
Tracklist:
1.Knock You Out
02. Stick It To The Man
03. Balls
04. Young Tongues
05. Put Love In Its Place
06. Raised By Wolves
07. Trouble
08. Teenage Knife Gang
09. Creatures
10. Sleepy Demon
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