It's hard to imagine a band who wear their classic rock influences on their sleeve and adhere to old skool hard rock moves as sounding radical these days, but in the current atmosphere of Bloc Party and Franz copycats, sleazoid Leeds ex-pat rockers THE GLITTERATI seem so far out on a limb that they're almost a breath of fresh air in themselves.
Not that their beefed-up rawk'n'rawl (yes, make sure you assume an LA drawl here) is anything other than reactionary really, but it's shot through with enough professionalism, tunefulness and classy hooks to ensure their eponymous debut album is certainly a record worth its' salt.
Part of the credit for this, admittedly, must be laid at producer Mike Clink's door. Yes, that IS Mike Clink as in Guns'n'Roses and "Appetite For Destruction" and "Use Your Illusion 1 &2", and while you certainly wouldn't believe it's really Axl and co playing here if you shut your eyes tight enough,. it's not unfair to say that the likes of G'n'R and Thin Lizzy do spring to mind (mostly quite favourably) as you trawl through the eleven songs here.
Opener "Betterman" gives you a fair idea of the album's overall sound. It's typically lippy, attitude-rammed RAWK, produced with power, precision and clarity. The band's way with a bitten-off, swaggering riff is convincing enough and Paul Gautrey proves he's got what it takes in the Axl/ Percy Plant drawlin' and screamin' stakes.
Good start, and the album continues in a similar vein with a glut of cast-iron rockers like "Heartbreaker", "You Got Nothing On Me" and "First Floor". These are tunes with a lascivious gleam in their eye and a stirring in their loins and won't disappoint anyone who's made rubble of their sofa listening to Led Zep or The Stooges of a Saturday night before they go out. The Glitterati's adherence to the worth of a song over fretwankery also bodes well. Lead guitarist John Emsley is generally pretty tasteful, and even when he does peel of a searing solo (like on "Betterman") it's usually of the memorable, Brian Robertson variety.
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Funnily enough, though, The Glitterati really excel when they slow it down and mellow out on us somewhat. "Don't Do Romance", for example, is framed with chiming guitars and finds a rueful Paul Gautrey singing: "All the lovers ended up in threes, with the girls who used to sleep with me". It's got a fine, chromatic lilt to it, and demonstrates The Glitterati are damn good at dynamics. The closing "Keep Me Up All Night", meanwhile, is arguably even better. It's a surprise, country-tinged ballad with restrained playing from all concerned and subtle echoes of Ryan Adams. Not what you'd expect, but good enough for you to demand more in this vein in the future.
It's not all wine and (guns'n') roses, mind. Tracks like "You Need You" and "Here Comes A Close Up" are knee deep in bluster and suggest too much of this could soon become wearing. Fortunately, "Still Thinking About You" - with its' superior groove and see-sawing guitars - comes sandwiched between, so these tracks' inclusion don't spoil the picture terminally.
"The Glitterati", then, is the very epitome of solid, focussed hard rock that will sound impressive blasting out of the radio and unfailingly anthemic in a big field near you. It's not really the sort of thing your reviewer would actively seek out these days, but stumbling upon it reminds you that old skool hard rock can still cut some ice when performed with guts and commitment. And it sure beats the pile of would be Franz Ferdinands whose demos continue to pile up in the reviews cupboard.
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