In the short time they've been around, Black Spiders have achieved more than Pete Spiby's previous bands, the criminally underrated Groop Dogdrill and the largely overlooked Future eX-Wife achieved in their entire careers. Spiby's fixation with the swaggering, sleazy aspects of Americana was core in these previous acts, and it's carried through to Black Spiders too. A support slot with The Wildhearts, alongside high-profile slots at the Download, High Voltage and iTunes festivals, playing alongside Ozzy Osbourne and ZZ Top amongst others has certainly helped to put Black Spiders in the spotlight, but make no mistake, Black Spiders have got where they have on merit.
'Sons of the North', their debut album follows a brace of ripping EPs, and is an unashamedly straightforward rock album. Or, more accurately, it's a rawwwwwwk!! album, and no messin'. It's chicks and booze and rock 'n' roll all the way, from the opening bars of 'Stay Down', straight out of the traps at 100mph, to the stomping wig-out of 'What Good's a Rock Without a Roll?' that brings things to an exultant conclusion. 'KISS Tried to Kill Me' might be the weakest track on the album, teetering on the brink of Spinal Tap-style parodic cliche with its vocal harmony-filled chorus and widdlesome guitar licks. Even so, the delivery is clearly ironic and tongue-in-cheek, which redeems it considerably: it's far more Tenacious D than The Darkness.
To say that 'Sons of the North' revels in rock cliche and is a knowingly dumb album is like saying that the Sahara is dry and sandy. It's an album that steeped in classic rock heritage, and completely brazen about the fact: think Led Zep, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Motorhead, with the thunking heavyweight delivery of QOTSA. Startlingly original it isn't. Cock-rockin’ and testosterone-fuelled, it is. But while so much contemporary rock is slick and formulaic, unduly concerned by hair straighteners and incorporating nu-metal and melodic elements, Black Spiders are all about cranking everything up to eleven and getting down and dirty and sweaty while kicking out old-school riffs of monster proportions. It’s Fun with a capital 'F' and boasts some chant-out choruses and solos so ostentatious the only response is to grin like an idiot and get into the groove.
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With the guitars taking centre stage, it's easy to overlook the pivotal role of the rhythm section: here, bass and drums, heavy and solid, meld to form a single unit that provides the pumping heart of the sound. The elements combine to produce an album that's non-stop, full throttle, whiskey-guzzlin', balls-out blues-based rock, solid and meaty from beginning to end. Just the way it should be.
Black Spiders on MySpace
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