Rockers England’s Mr. Vincent is back with his band of deceased dirty fuckin’ rock ‘n’ rolling girls for the follow up to last years fittingly titled Dirty Fuckin’ Rock ‘n’ Roll with a just as suitably named new album Need For Speed, it’s ten full throttle punk ‘n’ roll rattling by in just shy of 30 minutes…
Kicking of with the old Thames TV theme that only those of a certain vintage will remember, Sex and Drugs picks up, at an incendiary pace, from where Dirty Fuckin’ Rock ‘n’ Roll left off and doesn’t let up for the duration, with barely time to catch a breath between songs. Add Guitars and Rock ‘n’ Roll to the Sex and Drugs and you’ve got the full tongue in cheek cliché delivered with fire and fury by Johny and Co. No Romance takes the baton from the opening track and runs with it, deep down and dirty guitar riffs aplenty and machine gun drumming keeping the pace past and furious.
Suck it and See continues in a similar vein, Vincent & Co riffing as if their lives depended on it, and as I listen to their punky Pistols/Dead Boys meets Hanoi Rocks/Backyard Babies hard rocking, I’m thinking this band would make a great support for the legendary Michael Monroe on his UK tour next year, if Santa is listening…
The dirty fuckin’ rock n roll continues into the lairy glam punk innuendo of Animal Attraction, “I wanna get all animal over you” sings Johny suggestively on the song indicating lust over love…”all we’ve got between us is this animal attraction.” Limo Life brings the frenetic pace down a notch, while maintaining high octane energy, before the five knuckle shuffle action of Masturbation Sensation is done in less than a minute…
Not just one antagonist but three on the next track Fuckers (3 different ones), I’m assuming about the seemingly unending stream of motherfucking Tory PMs, “you said let the bodies pile high” spits Johny with venom. The furious energy continues to rage through Dead to Me with some heavy metal riffing like I’ve not heard for years…
The album’s penultimate song is a message to the ridiculous, vacuous reality stars, Made in Chelsea is the song, but you could replace that title with a steady stream of pointless shows for the “brain dead/fuckwit generation.” “I don’t care where you stay or where you’re going” pretty much sums it up.
I’m not sure of the final song is a pastiche of Motley Crue, both in its title, If the Drugs Don’t Work or in it’s Sunset Strip hair/glam metal guitar lines. Whether it is or not, one things for certain it is a full on rollercoaster ride of a trip. The chorus of “if the drugs don’t work then you’re taking wrong ones” is caveated as the album closes out with… just say no to drugs (unless they’re free, of course)
Need for Speed brings a grin to your face as Johny delivers his playfully irreverent lyrics while the band burn rubber with their intense and frantic rocket-fuelled rock n roll.
As Maverick was once heard to utter, “I feel the need, the need for speed…”
As we speed closer to the arrival of the man with the sack, it would be remiss of me not to mention Johny’s hastily released Christmas single, released under the name of The Soda Poppers, the irreverence continues on ‘Til Christmas, with Frida the Bleeder on vocals, “I’m not gonna put out (go fuck yourself), ‘til Christmas (or maybe New Year) is the repeated refrain leaving the subject of the lyrics in no doubt where they stand…