(Anthem/Shock)

Former Distillers hellcat back with more tattooed raucousness

There are some elements that hark back to Brody Dalle’s previous band The Distillers – the riffs, the swagger and Dalle’s gravelly vocals. However, Spinnerette is ultimately a less blatantly sneering, punky proposition than her former band (and with far fewer Hole-isms). Husband Josh Homme has clearly influenced the precise rhythms and locomotive QOTSA riffs in opening track Ghetto Love, while there’s an excellent combination of heady desert rock and God Is A Bullet-era Concrete Blonde in Cupid. Proof that even tattooed “ladies of rock” can get in touch with their inner Debbie Harry is revealed in Geeking, while she’s even sounding a bit Siouxsie Sioux in Baptized By Fire. And for all the regular descriptions of Dalle’s vocals as “gravelly” (including by myself, four sentences ago), she has a more ethereal high voice in the spooky psychedelia of Distorting A Code, illustrating a range in this group that goes way beyond your average Sunset Strip hair band (and yes, they still exist – I’ve seen LA Ink!). There’s also a haunting undercurrent to the excellent Driving Song and even a suggestion of psychedelic nu-folk in Impaler, while riff-heads will be more than satisfied by the fuel-burning licks of Rebellious Palpitations, All Babes Are Wolves and stoner metal slab A Prescription For Mankind. Dalle’s ultimate triumph is her ability to expand her musical palette without betraying her rock roots.

***½

MATT THROWER

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