A lot has changed in the music industry in the sixteen years since Urge Overkill put out a new record. All those changing trends and technological advances of the last few years shrivel and blow away like irrelevant dead leaves on the roadside with the arrival of Rock & Roll Submarine, a blazing, bloody-knuckled monolith of monster riffs executed with utmost precision. Right from the start, the band comes bounding out of their corner, still in fighting shape and virtually exploding with more energy than most bands half their age.
It’s a perilous dichotomy faced by bands who continue playing Hard Rock well into their 40s and 50s and beyond. Balancing years of hard-won knowledge and experience with whatever shred of youthful energy you might have left or might be reduced to faking in order to pull it off convincingly is no easy feat. A lot of dudes embarrass themselves in the process. Not to worry. These guys nail it and make it sound easy. It must be in their blood. Not many artists can return from a decade and a half hiatus and hit the ground running, firing on all pistons like they never went away and never aged a day. Urge Overkill sounds as good as ever on the new record, at times even pushing their wicked, growling vocal harmonies and distorted guitar tones past the brink of anything they’ve done before.
With menacing bass and guitar lines linked and lashing in unison like a chain of fire accompanying the raspy gravel harmonies of Nash Kato and Eddie Roeser, the opening track “Mason/Dixon” is hooky, heavy, and haunting. Call it Sinister Pop. The title track poses the question, “Do I have to spell it out again? This time with attitude?” Upon further thought, our protagonist answers his own question when he claims “I know a better way” and drops in a Stooges riff with a wink and a nod. This band always had a gift for blending the best in pop sensibilities with ten-feet-tall power chords and punk energy. That winning combination is stronger than ever on Rock & Roll Submarine, with just a dash of grey-streaked humor thrown in for good measure.
“Effigy” rages with fierce guitar tones that are thick as hot lava yet punch with snapping, brutal force. You can practically see the speaker cones throbbing, the cabinets shaking, the pant legs flapping from the punishing volume. The lyrics to “Effigy” include one of the better hate song couplets in recent memory: “I don’t want an apology. I want an effigy”. Conversely, the award for Best New Valentine goes to “Thought Balloon”, featuring the irresistible invitation “Would you be my thought balloon?” set to a persistent pop jangle and layers of acoustic and electric guitars.
The record clocks in at a lean 40 minutes, but Urge Overkill unleashes more of Hell’s howling wolves and ferocious power chords here than most bands can dish out in their whole career. These songs are hopped up dragsters racing around in your heart with voices and guitars roaring like a manic beast and the racket is glorious.
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[This review originally appeared on Crawdaddy.com in May 2011. –rh]
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