ALBUM REVIEW: Lecherous Gaze - "One Fifteen"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/2/2017

Label: Tee Pee Records

 

..if it’s a rough and tumble slab of catchy punk rock that you’re in for, be sure to get your ass down to the train station to catch the “One Fifteen.”

 

“One Fifteen” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1.) One Fifteen
2.) Reptile Minds
3.) Cosmos Redshift 7
4.) Thing Within
5.) The Day the Earth Caught Fire
6.) Dark Nebula
7.) Malevolent Shroud
8.) Blind Swordsman
9.) X City

The Review:

Imagine what would happen if Howlin’ Wolf grew up in the 80s, spent his time jamming The Ramones and getting fucked up on anything that came his way. If such prospect tickles your curiosity, then by all means, jump on board the “One Fifteen” train, Lecherous Gaze’s new album.

There are a number of remarkable things that Lecherous Gazehas going for them. First off, the guitars. Man, those guitars! The main man behind the licks goes by the name Graham Clise and he’s accompanied on second guitar by Zach Dellorto-Blackwell. The way these two fly up and down the fret board, switching effortlessly from frenetic riffing to frenetic soloing, makes for one impressive axe-slinging show. Take the album’s closing cut “X City” as an example of this. The front end is a riff-filled party rocker that longs for the days of driving around in a Rocket 88, only to close out with one of the best guitar solos we’re going to hear all year. Guaranteed.

As is the case with guitar rock, the songs would be nothing without a steady rhythm section to back up the riffs. And that’s where Chris Grande (bass) and Noel Sullivan (drums) come into play. Their get up and get ‘em attitude saturates songs like “Reptile Minds” and the five minute extravaganza, “Thing Within,” with a steady, head on delivery, which opens up the playing field for Clise and Dellorto-Blackwell to dance around how they please. The interplay between these guys is aggressive when it needs to be and precise if that’s what the song calls for, all the while keeping just as much sleaze as accessibility in the songs.

And then there’s the Lecherous Gaze trademark, singer Zaryan Zaidi. A formidable front man to boot; one to be both scared of and impressed by. Shredding his vocal chords in the process, Zaidi barks and snarls his way through these nine cuts with both joy and frustration. Lecherous Gazeis a punk rock band, after all, despite all that tasty, groovy riffing. So there’s just as much room to make a statement as there is to have a damn good time.

So if it’s a rough and tumble slab of catchy punk rock that you’re in for, be sure to get your ass down to the train station to catch the “One Fifteen.”

“One Fifteen” is available to buy/preorder here

Band info: facebook|| bandcamp