Hot Rails

To Hell with the Hot Rails (self-released)

"I’m the ripper; I rip it up all night/I get to rip it/I keep it nice and tight," intones spastic Hot Rails singer Ken Janssen on the opening track on the hard-rocking local band’s debut. In a song that features constipated vocals and plenty of (I shit you not!) cowbell, the band simultaneously invokes the sloppy garage rock of the Stooges and the made-for-commercial radio approach of AC/DC. The dueling guitars of Jamie Rychak and Dave Molnar rip through many of the tracks here, turning "Fever" into a balls-to-the-wall rocker and making "Bottom of a Glass" every bit as nasty as its subject matter (essentially, taking pride in being a social outcast). There’s nothing complicated about "Bitchin’ Hour," a call-and-response anthem about partying hard that would make Andrew WK envious. While To Hell... is clearly a guitar album, the rock-solid rhythm section gets to show off its chops during moments of "Still Got It" and "2 Tuff." With Cobra Verde/Breaker drummer Mark Klein handling the engineering and local graphic artist Jake Kelly providing the spot-on illustration of the band that’s in the liner notes, the album’s a homegrown effort that makes use of some of the city’s better talents. Clearly rooted in ’70s rock and metal, Hot Rails are hardly derivative. They somehow manage to make all those gnarly guitar-centric bands they channel (Uriah Heap, Judas Priest and even ZZ Top) sound hip again. - Jeff Niesel