mercredi 6 décembre 2017

The Pretty Uglys are coming for you !

I've been listening to The Pretty Uglys album for months now. And it was about time that I do something about this band here 'cause they delivered one of the best album of the year. Period.



The Pretty Uglys are fronted by singer/guitarist Rex Pena (AKA Rexxy Damage) since quite a few years now but even if older recordings do exist the band only released their self-titled album earlier this year (March 2017) with the involvement of  Armand John Lizzy (Lizzy Lixx) on guitars, some drums and engineer duties, Jonah Weber (Chrome Molly) on rhythm guitars, Billy Johnson (Crusty ol Punk) on bass and piano, Jason Loree (Goldie Gunns) on drums and Willi Lust on bass.
But how do they sound ? Well, pure dirty, sleazy, good-time Rock N Roll with catchy riffs, great vocal melodies, cocky & debauched lyrics and overall swagger.


Starting off with "Sex, Drugs and RnR", the first digital single taken from the album, you immediately figure out that you don't hold a protest record in your hands but a straight-in-your-face 70s rock infused opus.
And while I obviously have my favorites among the 9 tracks featured here, the album is solid from start to finish with no filler (just killer).

"Squeeze it", "Wayward", "Stiches", "Thunderbird blues", "You Turn Me On" or the softer "Life On the Road" are just perfect. The songs will grab you by the crotch and make you beg for more while banging your head.
Not that they reinvented the wheel here -this is absolutely not the point- but they learned their RnR History lessons and how to write songs. With hints to the Stones ("Livin' Ain't Easy It's A Bitch") or Space Age Playboy ("Wayward"), The Pretty Uglys are delivering the goods with taste. Yes. Really.
And one of the things that make a huge difference with a lot of bands nowadays is the quality of the vocals. Rex's voice was meant to sing rock and roll music with attitude, feeling and soul and that exactly what he's doing here.

The sound production of the record is really good as well, including additional percussion, keys (piano, hammond...) and lots of backing vocals to enhance the songs and add to the diversity of the whole album that sounds -thankfully- not too polished or over-compressed but REAL. It's a RnR record for fuck sake !

A video for the last track of the record "Lay Down Your Soul With RnR" is also available (see below). In fact this song was recorded back in 2014 and the video released then. There the band looks like a bunch of deranged inmates wearing New York Dolls outfit and Kiss make-up. 
So you could say that image is part of the Uglys vision : make RnR dangerous (and fun) again.

My wish is that this gem will get a proper release on CD and/or Vinyl with cool artwork and lyrics. So far this album is only available in CDr directly from Rex and the single "Sex, Drugs and RnR" in digital via Uglys Bandcamp page.

Go get it, have fun. And yes, you can thank me for the tip.





The Pretty Uglys "s/t" (2017)
1. Sex, Drugs and rock N Roll
2. You Turn Me On
3. Squeeze It
4. Stiches
5. Life On The Road
6. Wayward
7. Livin' Ain't Easy It's A Bitch
8. Thunderbird Blues
9. Lay Down Your Soul For Rock and Roll


https://www.reverbnation.com/theprettyuglys
https://www.facebook.com/assgrassgas/
https://theprettyuglys1.bandcamp.com/releases






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