Formed in 1982 Melbourne’s The Dirty Rats finally got off the mark with their debut album release last year and now they’re back with a second in quick succession. If you expected the ensuing decades to have changed the sound of the band from those early days the I’m glad to confirm they haven’t – this is a nice slice of old-school hard rock like the way it used to be.
If you like the hard rock of the early eighties then there is a little embellishment with accents of bands like Motorhead, Circle of Power, Zodiac Mindwarp and even Thunder in the mix along with the NWOBHM heavyweights Saxon and Judas Priest as well as the ubiquitous AC/DC.
‘The Juice’ which opens might even be the best here with that Thunder-flavour I mentioned, but the rest is solid, even if the production is at times lacking – giving this release the whiff of a demo at times. There are great tunes within though and that’s what matters – good old fashioned hard rock to raise a glass too like the more metallic ‘Bad News Woman,’ or the Bluesy ‘Rock Star’ that will have you thinking of vintage AC/DC…
Nice work and a great soundtrack to a few cold beers.
Track list:
01. The Juice
02. Axis of Love
03. Love from a Distance
04. End in Tears
05. Jaded
06. The Ballad of Hobbit Foot
07. Hurts like a Mother
08. Boss of Me
09. My Life is a Cliché
10. Fantasy
11. Bad News Woman
12. Rat Rock
13. Rock Star
Band Members:
Wayne (Richie Rat) Rich – Vocals
Jamie Beovich – Bass
Anthony (Chooka) Chapple – Guitar
Andy Thomson – Drums