Released by: Spinefarm/Universal
Release Date: February 3rd , 2014
Genre: Sleaze/Glam Rock
Links: https://www.facebook.com/TheTreatmentOfficial
Line Up:
Matt Jones – vocals
Jake Pattinson – Guitar
Tagore Grey – Guitar
Dhani Mansworth – Drums
Swoggle – Bass
Tracklist:
I bleed rock n roll
Drop like a stone
Get the party on
Running with the dogs
The outlaw
Emergency
She’s too much
Cloud across the sun
Don’t look down
World on fire
What is there to say
Unchain my world
Don’t get made get evil
So the latest release from hard drinking rockers The Treatment falls (via some MI6 secured streaming location) onto my iPhone for consideration. Clearly, having recently completed a UK tour with Airbourne, they’ve had a chat and the clever opener is clearly designed to complement their touring partners and appeal to the punters who attended one of the 11 dates late in 2013. Loud, brash, chord driven and a homage to the Aussie style of rock first mastered by AC/DC, ‘I bleed rock n roll’ sees The Treatment (in my opinion) more accessible this time round. Debut album ‘This Might Hurt’ whilst a fun slab of rock n roll lacked a certain something but had enough to leave me hoping that they would return with a superior follow up.
Two tracks in and that is starting to be the case. ‘Drop like a stone’ has a great vocal and the chorus has some harmonization reminiscent of The Monkees’ ‘Stepping stone’ with the ‘aaaaaahhhh aaahhhh aaahhhh’ in the background. Not a comparison you see in many rock reviews but it’s definitely there.
‘Get the party on’ both in title and style sits neatly in the 1980’s and echoes many influences from that era. Gravelly vocals, lots of ‘woah oah’ shouts leading into the chorus, the song is a real energiser and guaranteed to get people on their feet to it when performed live.
Album title ‘Running with the dogs’ shows a band which has gained experience and maturity touring with the likes of Kiss and Motley Crüe on their recent co-headlining run across the US. A match made in heaven some would say as the band will appeal to similar audiences and their look and feel epitomizes that snarly, dirty, streetwise attitude so ably introduced by early Crüe and of course Appetite era Guns ‘n’ Roses.
Across the UK and Europe The Treatment have also supported Alice Cooper, Steel Panther and Motörhead and that level of experience gained now comes into its’ own on this release.
‘The Outlaw’ , ‘Emergency’ and ‘She’s too much’ stick to the format that clearly got the a deal in the first place and on the latter track, the “Aussie” style pervades once more. No bad thing when you think that AC/DC have to stop one day and there is no guarantee that Airbourne are the natural successor.
‘Cloud across the sun’ slows things down and Matt Jones finally gets a chance to show he can do more than just the sleazy, 3 packs of smokes a day, attitude driven vocal approach that he nails on the rest of the album. A genuinely mellow tune, the vocals are supported by some great harmonies from the rest of the band and if they still allowed smoking in venues, I have no doubt that lighters would be held high for this one during the show.
‘Don’t look down’ follows and the familiar chugging riff intro followed by some great licks from Jake Pattinson / Tagore Grey give Jones the platform to once again blast his vocals skyward. Bon Scott stylings come to mind during the track and the riff and mid song soloing could certainly be associated with a certain Mr Young as well.
‘World on fire’ steals its’ opening riff from (Chris Spedding’s) ‘Motorbikin’ a tune the band have also covered on the ‘Then & Again’ E.P. ‘What is there to say’ is another 3 minute blast of punky attitude before penultimate track ‘Unchain my world’ again proves that the band have more in their arsenal than sweat and energy. The acoustic guitars provide a nice break at this point in the album which had predominantly been galloping through its 47+ minutes. As Guns’n’Roses often used to do in live shows, you can imagine The Treatment pulling out the sofas from the side of the stage and just having a mid-set chill out with this before finishing with energetic ‘Don’t get mad get evil’.
Very often an album can draw a listener in by putting all of its killer tracks at the beginning. The Treatment hold one such track back for the album closer and it too shows a different approach. Slightly darker in style and lyrical content its a great way to finish a much improved album over the debut.
Written by Adrian
Ratings Adrian 7/10
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