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ROLL ON
The Living End
(Reprise/Warner)
Kangaroos, koalas, platypuses. Australia has more than its share of weird critters. Meet another -- The Living End. This Aussie trio began as a Stray Cats-inspired rockabilly outfit with standup bass, vintage Gretsch guitars and high-piled hair. They've kept those trappings but the band's music has slowly evolved towards old-school punk anthems. Which brings us to Roll On, their second full-length and a most unusual hybrid. Although the twangy, high-energy boogie of Riot on Broadway and Carry Me Home are punkabilly straight outta Rev. Horton Heat's Bible, the sharper, heavier riffs of cuts like Pictures in the Mirror could be from Green Day's last disc. This musical cross-breeding -- which, make no mistake, the band pulls off admirably -- doesn't end there. To make things even more interesting, Don't Shut the Gate's arena-rock wallop and singalong chorus are right out of Midnight Oil, Blood on Your Hands flirts with skanky reggae, and if Angus Young didn't write the riff-rocker Silent Victory, we're a monkey's uncle. Or a kangaroo's.
Track Listing
1. Roll On
2. Pictures In The Mirror
3. Riot On Broadway
4. Staring At The Light
5. Carry Me Home
6. Don't Shut The Gate
7. Dirty Man
8. Blood On Your Hands
9. Revolution Regained
10. Silent Victory
11. Read About It
12. Killing The Right
13. Astoria Paranoia
14. Uncle Harry
15. Prisoner Of Society - (bonus track, live)