Western Xterminator (Drag City) made me clean my entire apartment in a sudden burst of energy. Jennifer Herrema from Royal Trux leads this hard-punching sextet with growling, gruff, and undeniably sexy vocals that flow over crunchy guitar riffs and thunderous drum kicks.
“Finally, an album that I can define as pure rock,” I thought as I sprayed the dining room table with wood polish. Reminiscent of late eighties/early nineties “hair metal” (as some call it), RTX pulls from the harder sect of the congregation using less pop and excluding lame lyrics.
The feel of the music is a throwback to another time when custom painted Firebirds and jean jackets were fucking awesome, but the music is relevant to today. What they are doing always has and always will be called rock. If you are a fan of hard-edged purity with a gritty guitar solo in every song or your house is in dire need of dusting, then I highly recommend Western Xterminator.