Style: heavy metal, covers, shock rock
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 2021
Home: n/a
Members: Joseph Michael Poole "Wednesday 13" ~ vocals/guitar
Band ~ n/a
Guest: Calico Cooper ~ b. vocals
My immediate reaction was the arrangements, right down to the pounding guitar solos, sound like a less bluesy version of Brookyln's metal trio Tired Wings. Stripped down metal with an almost storyteller quality to the vocals, with music going for groove over flashy solos. It's what I consider to be a New York City type of modern hard rock/metal, as in very punchy & raw compared to the production heavy glam of the West Coast. While the singer growls also much like the frontman of Tired Wings, but without the emotional aspect. That's where the comparison ends, as half the songs on this four song EP are Tired Wings esque-originals with the other two being a covers of INXS & Gary Numan. The later includes guest backing vocalist in Alice Cooper's daughter Calico. The originals have profane lyrics I was kinda expecting, given the name of the opener is "Your Mother Still Sucks Cock In Heaven". Not having been to heaven I can't verify if this is true or not, so I'll take Wednesday 13's opinion for it. Of course, 18 year old boys are going to want to hear this, but as a 43 year old man ... well ... I'm kinda embarrassed to say I actually enjoyed these profane originals on repeated listens. I was expecting over the top metal lyrics of just screamed incoherent blasphemies, but the originals are crude in a witty way & with every lyric clear. I got a chuckle over them. Its worth it to just quote some of the lyrics: "I heard a story just the other day/A story that I could not believe/A story about your mother/How she goes down on her knees" ... "She's down in hell giving slurpies at the 7-11" ... "I know her so well/Cause she's in hell doing what she does best" ... "It was a gift from God/that she does real well" ... "I'm hearing things/Things that I did not know/That your mother could suck a basketball through a garden hose". Hearing these words my thought was: guys are going 'yeah', while the women are like 'oh, my jaw.' Sorry, not to be crude, but that's the way it is. The other original "Screwdriver 2 - The Return" has the same sound & is just as bonkers lyrically, with the lyrics:"Your head is where I ram it/Can't you see I still don't care/Screwdriver is back/Stick it in your ear" ... "You're pathetic/So pitiful/Take the screwdriver/Ram it in your skull." Not quite as much fun as talking about your mother, but points for creativity. I can't really say I've ever heard a screwdriver in the head song. Not even the band Skrewdriver did that! Bad pun intended. From here we go into a heavy metal version of the INXS hit "Devil Inside". The heavily distorted guitar plays the melody, with the lyrics growled like Rob Zombie. I'm not going to say they improved upon the song, as it feels too stripped down for me. I feel like the song has an inherent quirkiness that is missing in Wednesday 13's interpretation. While Wednesday 13 doesn't replace that with anything. I might expect them to make the song menacing, but I'm not feeling the devil inside. The problem is Wednesday 13 has a pretty limited musical template. So, while I found this interesting to listen to, I came away feeling the idea of a heavy metal INXS is more interesting than the execution. I found myself wondering how this song would work with a band with more guitars, keyboards & other sounds, i.e. a wider template. There is some hints of this in the chorus with the first keyboard sounds introduced on the album, but I would like to hear more layers throughout more of the song. Ironically, the closing track of Gary Numan's "Films" as dominating synths that answers my curiosity. Its moody & more than just a driving guitar. Can we take this instrumentation & put it to "Devil Inside"? For the record, Calico Cooper just has a less than exciting backing vocal role. For those reading, it should be obvious that I'm not familiar with Wednesday 13 earlier albums. Thus, I confess I might be doing them a disservice. For those that don't know, this group, Joseph Michael Poole aka Wednesday 13 also fronts the Murderdolls, along with an array of other bands including Maniac Spider Trash, Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Bourbon Crow & Gunfire 76. The Murderdolls is likely the most recognizable name. I've actually never heard them, either. For those that say I should listen Murderdolls or earlier Wednesday 13 albums before doing this review, I don't think you should have to listen to other bands/album to get a particular album. No more than you need to look at one painting by Van Gogh to be able to understand another painting by him, or you need to see a Van Gogh in order to understand a Warhol. A work of art should stand on its own.
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