9 O’Clock Nasty
Regular readers know I fully believe that great bands sound like the cities they hail from. The tones represent the struggle, the weather, the economy and the people - all of it. The Beach Boys don’t sound like Florida and Nirvana does not sound like New York. But Merle Haggard sure as hell sounds like California, not Nashville. Run DMC sounds like Queens, and Queen sounds every bit as cosmopolitan and gritty as London. Great bands know this. 9 O’Clock Nasty knows this. The city they hail from, Leicester, is one of the most multi-cultural and complex in the UK. Posh, yet, working class. Worldly, but steeped in British Royal history. Artistically classic, and post modern. It’s continuously pushing its own social boundaries and constructs, and I believe you can hear that in 9 O’ Clock Nasty’s music. This track, “Too Cool” marks the first time the band has used an outside producer (also a reflection of Leicester’s character), and the result is exceptional. They’ve managed to maintain their core sound - but sound bigger and better than ever. Here’s my review.
Track starts with a riff jam in a minor, after a snare fill wakes you up. The first 8 bars with the bass and guitar represent three styles exceptionally well. Funk, Punk and Rock. Go ahead, make your comparisons to Cake, RHCP and even the Buzzcocks - you’d be on point. Listen to the dryness of the mix, the guitar tones, and the way the bass line slithers between the kick and the guitar. Great jam. Pay attention to the guitar tones here, because they are just going to keep building and building. We’re off to a great starting point - and I love the fact that the whole intro is odd. 1 bar of snare, 8 bars of riff, and 2 bars of snare. You would expect an even set of numbers for the entire passage - way cool.
The verse kicks off with a Beastie Boys type exchange between two vocalists as they set the scene over the head riff. The snare fill offers a clear distinction between the verse and the chorus, which changes feel to a more straight-ahead, downstroke, floor tom approach. This opens up the top end of the EQ for perfect unison shout chorus - which they employ. Snare breaks it up again to set up the second which continues the tale of whomever this person is (Hunter S. Thompson, perhaps?). The vocal back and forth works really well. They’re in the same register, but have enough distinction in their timbre and grit that it really helps expand the overall sonic pallet of the track.
Love the fact that they screw with the traditional song structure form and have a second chorus that’s twice as long as the first - always love surprises like that. Then, they do a third verse followed by a solo. Unconventional and sneaky, thank you. Absolutely love the guitar tone choice for the solo - it does a great job of adding on to the track and filling up the entire EQ of the mix. Note choice is solid too. There’s plenty of room to shred and show off, but he keeps it tight and perfect for the vibe of the track. Since it’s just a trio, they really have to rely on the guitar (on this track) to keep the overall vibe expanding - and they do so perfectly with the difference in tone between the verses, choruses and solo. Kudos to the tracks producer - rumor has it that it’s some dude from Quebec named Hugo. Seriously. All the tones on here are spot on. I really appreciate how dry that bass tone is in the verses - very sharp. They finish up the track with another shout chorus and funny outake. Nice work boys - great funky punk anthem you’ve got here - hope to see you play it live someday!
Make sure you scroll down to catch their socials and other tracks. If this is your jam, then you should look up some other bands on this blog, like Lizard Brain Trust and The Qwarks. Make sure you check out their track “Existential Dread” and this review that we wrote about it last year. They have a very eclectic collection of songs, from “Say No to Funk” and “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” to “Playboy Driver” and “Sleepy Policeman.” This band is not afraid to test the limits of conformity with rock, punk and funk - we need more bands like them.