Review Summary: A 50's bar on steroids
2 of 2 thought this review was well writtenLe Scrawl are officially the most intriguing and fun thing I have ever seen come out of death metal. Although that statement is slightly unfair since the band barely plays death metal, they have rooted themselves in the genre and thrown every influence unimaginable into it. On Whisky A Go-Go, you’ll find some ska, swing and jazz sounds used without restraint which give the album a fun, theatrical sound that sounds like a 50’s bar on steroids.
The reason I hesitate so much to call this death metal is some songs don’t even feature any electric guitar and the ones that do, don’t always use it on a distorted setting. This is demonstrated from the start on the first two songs. Both revolve more around the keys (which have a smooth, electric organ sound) but feature a clean guitar performing a simple rhythm riff. The singer delivers his deep guttural growl slowly and smoothly without clashing with the odd music and showing us that maybe growls and screams won’t always be limited to heavier styles of music.
Things pick up the pace on the third track, Menace To Sobriety, which features loud power chords and heavier drum patterns but while still having the strong keyboard accompaniment to retain the band’s signature “bar” sound. Tank Time continues along these lines but while putting a stronger influence on the riffing and using the theatrical keys as interludes between parts of the song instead of as a main part.
The album goes out with a bang with White Russian. Its driving force is an upbeat keyboard line that the guitarist interplays with throughout. It ends the album on a high note being the shortest and most fun song on the album and leaves the listener wishing Whisky A Go-Go was more than a mere 8 minutes long.
Whisky A Go-Go is fun, original, somewhat heavy, out there, unique and totally worth your time. Even if you don’t dig the sound, it is worth hearing at least once just to see how the band is pushing boundaries and creating such an amusingly theatrical bar-like sound. And at 8 minutes, no matter what you think of it, it can’t be called a waste of time.
