Friday, February 21, 2014

I LOVE RICH - "Respect The Rich"





RATING: R

LABEL: Self Released

Reviewed By: Alan Holloway


When a press release says that I'm about to listen to "The greatest under the radar rock and roll band of the last 15 years" I don't tend to take it remotely seriously, especially when the band has a song called "(You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Fuck You With The Lights On". Welcome to the world of I Love Rich...

If you haven't heard of I Love Rich, all that really means is you don't live in Chicago. "Respect The Rich" is their fourth release, and although it's techically an EP I'm reviewing it as an album because anything that's longer than Van Halen's "1984" counts as far as I'm concerned. The sincerest answer to the question "Are they any good?" can only be "Not really", as I Love Rich are at heart just a basic rock and roll/punk band with no real flair or talent for writing catchy songs. Me, I love a good punk rock album, but I'm afraid this isn't one by any stretch of the imagination. the music is incredibly basic, without the unique edge required to stand out from the crowd, and Rich himself has a voice that is ideally suited to pub bands but not much more.

With this band, you also have the "hilarious" lyrics angle, with tracks like "Wake Up, Let Me Rick You" and "If You Don't Take Your Clothes Off, Tonight's Gonna Suck" bringing all the humour of a child's cancer ward to proceedings. The tactic seems to be think of a funny line and repeat it as much as possible. I mean, Steel Panther are a stale joke but at least they try to create clever songs. I Love Rich are just a stale joke. For a band that's been around for fifteen years they certainly never bothered to learn any instrumental finesse or lyrical flair, instead relying on repetition and unoriginality. Avoid like it's a pox ridden hooker wearing a Margaret Thatcher mask.

Official band Site

No comments:

Post a Comment