Speed (EP) - The Rough Boys

Hide your daughters, hide your wives, The Rough Boys are coming to town and they aren’t discreet! Showcasing the art of Motorhead-styled rock (a musical grey area between hard rock, heavy metal and punk rock) their EPSpeed is twenty minutes of loud, balls-to-the-wall rock ’n’ roll that leaves you feeling like you were just tied to the back of a motorcycle and dragged through a whole motocross circuit. But although the Motorhead influence is strong, The Rough Boys still manage to add their own twist on the style.

Speed is definitely an adrenaline-based piece of work, and as such the album never finds itself with the foot off the gas pedal. The riffing on this album is tasty and the band is certainly capable of matching the present Motorhead at their own riffing style. However, where Motorhead’s punky, proto-speed metal riffing certainly alludes to boogie-woogie and R&B greats such as Little Richard and Chuck Berry, Alex Bernier pays his respects to psychobilly and southern rock instead, adding tinges of the styles throughout the EP. As a result, the riffs on Speed show they aren’t afraid to track off of catchy, hard-rocking, metal/punk tunes and onto raw, loud, and bluesy/southern guitar solos or chaotic, hardcore-structured southern/rock ’n’ roll riffs. The bass guitar on this has a noticeable presence and as such, does just as good a job at being dirty, loud, and raw, sometimes even leading the chaos with fast, attention-grabbing licks. The drum work on this record certainly does seem to lean on the punk side, as Sam Greenland smashes the drums as fast and loudly as he can, generally utilizing iconic punk rhythms such as the D-beat or quarter-note grooves.

The vocal performance from Gervais is harsh and raw, being more reminiscent of metal vocalists such as Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) or the more visceral moments from John Garcia (Kyuss). But the man certainly knows how to put himself at the front of the show, and even though the instruments are all equally represented, it’s the piss-and-vinegar attitude and lyrics alluding to all sorts of ruckus and rockin’ that completes the tone of the music. In terms of the production, at most points it does feel like the instruments are competing for who can be the loudest, and even though that works most of the time, during guitar solos and bass focuses it becomes troublesome, as they become harder to properly hear.

All in all this is one ballin’ EP and I haven’t had that much fun from such a brief amount of music in a long time. With rock music in the commercial rut it’s in, it’s good to see that there are bands out there who want to keep the true rock ’n’ roll spirit alive, and The Rough Boys do just that. Although I do have some concerns on how they’d hold up on a whole LP, I’m more excited to hear that actual effort. A good, drunk, rockin’ hard time! 8/10.

Best songs: Speed, Born to Rock, Hell for Leather, Banditos, Wasted

Hell for leather: http://theroughboys1.bandcamp.com/track/hell-for-leather