10

Red Lips

Just what exactly do we crave from our rock ‘n’ roll stars? Headlines? Mischief? Yes, of course we want that but at the bear minimum we should expect some choons, a belief that The Hot Melts hold dear with their new single ‘Red Lips’. The Wirral based four-piece have clearly been taking notes from the excess-fuelled 80’s with a crowd pleasing chundering guitar riff and a rollocking drum beat only too happy to join in. Then you hear front man Will Bayliss’ insistent vocals and you wonder whether too much attention has been paid.

To actually listen to the story behind the track reveals an alarming set of lyrics. The tale is centred around ‘Red’, a playful femme fatale and victim to an evening akin to Uma Thurman’s character, Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction played out to gaudy riffs. If anything the account brings a welcome shock value to what could be deemed a pedestrian offering, proving that The Hot Melts have a textbook understanding of rock ‘n’ roll.