Its nothing new but its catchy.
Harking back to the late 1980s when bands were trying to merge the frenetic energy of punk but the commercial sheen of the burgeoning MTV era, Trashlight Vision bring the sleaze and screams with their debut record 'Alibis and Ammunition.'
The opening tracks are all immediate punchy rock tracks and 'I Can't Wait' blasts into life and is the bands take on The Ramones "lazy, why bother" response to life. Of course, The Ramones were actually more intelligent than what they put on (Joey at least) and were creating the songs their fans were clamouring to hear and Trashlight Vision are recapturing that but through a Twisted Sister sheen.
Musically, the record is primed for stadium and arena rock, the drums are crunchy and are paced for handclaps and participation throughout, there is a punch the air vibe to a lot of the songs, with the charmingly titled 'Screw Worm Baby' leading the way. It's a cheeky title but you know it wants to be loved and it owes a lot to The Stooges 'Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell.' Iggy must be a great influence on the band as 'Black Apples' has a jaunty rhythm taken straight from 'The Passenger', however if you are going to have an influence, its better off being someone like Iggy Pop, so these steals are done in great taste.
Acey Slades vocals all contain a gravel edged quality and there's the impression that if he coughed and cleared his throat his charm would be lost but he carries every vocal well and there is a warm quality to all the songs. On the cover of 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg' the delivery sparkles throughout and deserves to be heard by a wider audience. The song charges through with a great pace but never runs out of control and captures the originals sense of acceptance but disillusion.
With 'My Fuck You 2 U' being the darkest song, both in terms of music and lyrical content and yet, still remaining confident and catchy, 'Alibis and Ammunition' is certainly an album that ticks all the commercial boxes and will have the right listener purring and snarling in delight.
Deep down this record is as dangerous as custard and is probably as far removed from the true spirit of Punk as could be imagined so in that aspect, it fails. However, it's a glorious slice of upbeat melodic pop masquerading as something darker and that shouldn't take away from the individual qualities. The ironic thing is that melodic hooks and choruses at times stomp over whats regarded as true pop in the charts nowadays and would offer much more sing along opportunities but its all about the packaging and marketing, so Trashlight Vision will continue to plough their own furrow in their own field.