Putting both the “rock” and “roll” in rock n’ roll, Swank Sinatra has kicked off 2012 with new album El Terrible and spending the next couple months hitting the local music scene circuit, including Little Five Points. The now-triple threat – after adding a full-time drummer – will be hitting up Star Bar along with New Terminus and Mice in Cars.
First of all, El Terrible isn’t bad, and I cannot pinpoint a reason for the given title. Maybe it’s their way of forewarning listeners of the mainstream taste? Maybe it’s their way of forewarning folks who hate the freshly-adopted garage sound? Maybe it’s just their familiar sarcasm at its finest?
The opening plays out much like a live show, as if these guys would open their Wednesday night set at Star Bar like that. The energy in “When The Morning Comes” smacks “The Prologue” about as hard as bombs on a pavement with its fast-paced delivery and hard-hitting lyrics. Swank Sinatra opens the way most hard rock bands should open their records – something inhibitionless, energetic and danceable.
Throughout El Terrible this band brings humorous content to the phonic table. “Mexican Surfer” rides as some sort of ode to Elian Gonzalez, the 7-year-old Cuban child who stirred controversy after arriving on U.S. soil illegally, for being the best and most elusive “surfer” they have ever known. Also, “On The Couch,” a quick and humorous story of getting a dead-end, mind-numbing job (or more inspiration behind becoming a couch potato).
They also cleverly compose pieces of their interactions with the devil, whether it be the imagery in “Rosemary’s Baby-Daddy” or their gluttonous sense of lust laced in the metaphors of women they try to woo, from Lady Luck to - of course - music.
Swank Sinatra could easily tout themselves as a lyrically-fresh spin on hard rock n’ roll, but they do too much more on this record to solidify that category. In fact, they do so much that the overall sound appears rather random. Out of nowhere folks’ll hear twists of funk in the bass, then hiphop-like lyricism, then some pure psychedelic riffs – let alone those moments where they abandon whatever instruments they do play for an electronic keyboarded-out tune. However, it is refreshing to hear an organ, which is only on the nicely-fitting track “Cottonmouth.”
When all is said and done, this record is fun for those who can take humor the same way they take shots of tequila – fast, strong and for partying like they have no manners. El Terrible is drunk with the power of constantly snatching the audience’s attention, oftentimes taking advantage but with the best intentions. Swank Sinatra’s new album enables folks to tote their balls to the nearest naysayer in the many forms of their humorous rock.
Wednesday / 9 p.m. / $5 / 21+
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