The Eighties, eh? What a hell of a decade that was. Puffball skirts, fantastical movies (Ghostbusters, The Neverending Story, Labrinth), Kylie warbling about being so lucky, lucky, lucky…amongst all the fluff and bright colours it can be easy to forget the huge influence the Eighties had on music, and rock music in particular. For one, so-called ‘hair metal’ emerged kicking and screaming from the Sunset Strip to encompass other types of rock and become a powerful genre of its own, producing such enduring acts as Motley Crue, Poison and even the likes of Bon Jovi and Europe. More than thirty years later (bet that makes you feel old!) not only a large amount of these groups still going these days, but most are in terrific shape (Chinese Democracy aside…).
Recently there has been a resurgence in popularity for the Eighties, with bands such as Girlschool and the gloriously naughty and kitch Steel Panther taking their cue from classic hair metal. This seems to have signified the realisation that many have always known: Eighties rock and metal was AWESOME, man.
Northern Ireland’s Maverick are definitely a band that are aware of this previously unpopular fact. Forming just over two years ago, they self-released EP ‘Talk’s Cheap’ shortly after and spent the next few years gigging their wee hearts out, gaining huge popularity locally and supporting acts such as Tigertailz, Faster Pussycat and Cheap Thrill. November 28th this year will see them release their eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Quid Pro Quo’ through Massacre Records, to whom they recently signed.
And my goodness, what a cracker of an album it is, too. Opening with a warning siren and battering ram drums (on intro ‘Event Horizon’) it pins its flag to the mast from very first track ‘Snakeskin Sinner’. The song has an immediately recognisable classic rock feel, with a chugging beat and some gnarly guitar work, while vocalist David Balfour’s vocal style is raw, brawny and simply perfect for this type of music.
Lead single ‘Paint By Numbers (which already has over 6,000 views on youtube) is next, offering a snarling riff and groovy beat throughout. The band’s quite masculine backing vocals lend the song a rather streetwise, macho air – no insipid ‘delicate flower’ stuff here! Even the ‘romantic’ songs on the album (‘Got It Bad’, ‘Last Addiction’ etc) avoid falling into the trap of being slushy, whilst the more, shall we say ‘base urges’ are presented with a sly wink and a cheeky grin (the Stone Sour-esque ‘Electric’, with its admonition “Why deny desire, you’re a long time dead”, and the ‘early Motley’ sounding ‘Rock n Roll Lady’ are perfect examples).
Far from being lyrical one-trick ponies, Maverick have also included a few ‘call to arms’ numbers: the ‘middle fingers up’ rant of ‘In Our Blood’, with its rallying cry of “Our true love, it’s rock n roll”, and the perky and upbeat ‘Side By Side’. They also delve into personal issues of loss, regret and shame on tracks such as ‘Took the Night’, the closest thing to a power ballad on Quid Pro Quo, and album highlight ‘Shackled ‘, with its urgent lyrics, Thin Lizzy-esque intro and powerful outro. Songs such as these two hint intriguingly at Maverick’s darker side, both musically and lyrically.
Frankly, QPQ is a hell of a ride from start to finish. The songs are varied and interesting, yet maintain their classic song structure – well if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Each song is catchy as hell, resulting in joyfully involuntary toe-tapping and head-nodding throughout. Musically, the band members smash each track out of the park, while Balfour is simply a delight to listen to, combining the range and rawness of Sebastian Bach with the power and pleasing timbre of John Parr (him what sung ‘St Elmo’s Fire’, FYI). And although they clearly take their inspiration from Eighties hair metal, they fall into the burlier end of the genre’s spectrum: less Poison/Nelson, more GnR/Whitesnake. Maverick are living proof that the influence that Eighties music has had on modern rock music cannot be overstated – and long may it remain so.
◀ STANDOUT ⁞ Shackled ▶
◀ SOUNDS LIKE ⁞ Skid Row | Steel Panther ▶
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