Over the course of ten years, Electric Mary have steadily gained a name for themselves, releasing three full-length albums (the last of which, 2011’s III, was deemed ‘essential’ by Classic Rock Magazine), and signing to well-thought-of label Listenable in the process. Now back with a fourth album, Mother, the Australian five-piece are set to expand their audience still further. Ferociously tight, having shared stages with the likes of Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Kiss, Alice Cooper and many more, Electric Mary take no prisoners on this latest studio outing. Aided by a typically bristling production from The Machine (White Zombie, Clutch, King Crimson), this is an album that will have hard rock fans playing air guitar in front of their mirrors for months to come.
A short album, mother leaves no space at all for filler. What we get are eight, breathless tracks, only four of which top four minutes. Kicking off the album, gimme love is an all-rock monster which sounds like Bon Scott fronting Whitesnake. The riffs are explosive, the vocals salacious and the band are in and out so fast, you’re left wondering what just hit you. Not even hitting three-minutes, hold onto what you got is AC/DC with nitro-glycerine in the fuel tank, Rusty’s vocals raw and sleazy as the band whip up a storm around him. Electric Mary take things down on a notch on the bluesy how do you do it, a rough-hewn tale of rock’n’lust with some stunning guitar work at its core. A future classic-in-the-making, how do you do it is a powerful anthem the likes of which so few bands make these days and it leaves you hooked. The first half of the album concludes with the lengthy sorry baby, a track that hangs low ‘n’ slow, the band keeping the big riffs in reserve whilst allowing plenty of space for Rusty’s vocals to flourish. It’s another brilliant track and the interplay between guitarists Pete Robinson and Brett Wood is a joy to behold, the pair balancing melody and raw firepower in just the right amounts.
Kicking off the album’s second side, the way you make me feel is another blistering riff-fest, Spyder’s propulsive drums leading the charge as the band put the pedal to the metal and race to the end in a whirl of string-snapping, throat-ripping rock ‘n’ roll. In contrast, it’s alright slows the pace but maintains the energy, the band running on a Creedence Clearwater Revival trip (think fortunate sun covered by hair-metal-era Kiss) as they trade bluesy licks before unleashing a gargantuan chorus that will have the entire audience singing along in seconds. At just shy of seven minutes, long long day is the album’s lengthiest cut, the band using the extended runtime to indulge in a touch of Sabbath-esque psychedelia washed through the filter of latter-day Soundgarden. It’s a masterclass in hard rock, the album’s undisputed highlight, demonstrating Electric Mary’s musical versatility and providing the album with a powerful, emotional core. Moreover, if the concluding solo doesn’t have you playing air guitar, you may well be clinically dead. The album’s final track (and also its debut single), woman, closes the record in fine, rip-snorting style. A sub-three-minute belter, it brings the record to an explosive close and the listener is left wondering how the hell thirty-five minutes have just vanished in a puff of rock ’n’ roll smoke.
Mother is quite simply everything you could want from a hard rock album in thirty-five unmissable minutes. You want blistering singles with addictive hooks and blazing guitars? Electric Mary have got you covered. You want bluesy ballads? Electric Mary have your back. You want full-on rock epics? Yep, Electric Mary have that too. With only eight tracks on offer, there is no filler at all. This is pure, pared back rock in excelsis and it is utterly essential to any self-respecting rocker’s collection. 9.5
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