Released By : SELF RELEASED OUT NOW!!
Style: Boogie Rock
Links: http://www.myspace.com/onoffrock
Tracklist:
01 .Ribcrasher
02 .Rockin’ Blood
03 .It’s Hard To Break Me
04 .Nasty Rhythm
05 .Com’ On Baby
06 .I’m A Shooter
07 .Seven
08 .I Don’t Bite
09 .Steamroller Blues
10 .Let Me Play My Stuff
ON-OFF are the latest band in a long line of AC/DC inspired boogie rock revivalists traveling the road previously paved by bands like BROKEN TEETH, KROKUS and DIRTY LOOKS. ON-OFF hail from Italy and before writing and recording the new album RIBCRASHER were one of the country’s top AC/DC tribute bands.
So it may stand to be that the band have the base of the AC/DC sound down perfectly, aided by the obvious Gibson guitar into Marshall amplifier combination that is a necessity for the style.
Albums in this style are always a tricky one for me as the mighty AC/DC have been my favorite band since I was eight years old, and I’m very protective about them. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the fact that there are so many bands these days keeping the flame alive, it’s just that for every good one I’ve heard, there’s been five bad ones. Some of the bands that have done justice to the style lately are KROKUS with their latest album HOODOO and my favorite recent one 21st CENTURY ROCK from the band ’77.
So where does ON-OFF fit into all of this then? Well, I’d say they are in between the good and the ordinary and have some very redeeming elements but also a few that will hold them back.
The main problem here is with keeping the illusion alive, unlike most bands doing this style that all feature vocalists that remind you of either Bon Scott or Brian Johnson, ON-OFF vocalist MATTEO VAGO has a different voice all together and while he sings everything in English, his Italian singing accent is very prominent and was a little too much for me after about the half way mark of the album, this will probably be no problem at all for a lot of people, but for me it was just a little but too much.
Some strong songwriting helps to bring the album up a bit, with some very enjoyable tracks like ROCKIN’ BLOOD, I’M A SHOOTER, STEAMROLLER BLUES and my personal favorite LET ME PLAY MY STUFF. If you are a fan of AC/DC clone bands the choices you have these days can be quite daunting and you need to choose wisely, I have no doubt whatsoever that ON-OFF have a bright future in areas that the Italian accent won’t bother people, but for me unfortunately I couldn’t look past it enough to really sink my teeth into the album.
Written by Zeezee
Ratings Zeezee 8/10
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