Album Review: THE PRETTY RECKLESS - Death By Rock And Roll

 

01. Death By Rock And Roll
02. Only Love Can Save Me Now (feat. Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron)
03. And So It Went (feat. Tom Morello)
04. 25
05. My Bones
06. Got So High
07. Broomsticks
08. Witches Burn
09. Standing At The Wall
10. Turning Gold
11. Rock And Roll Heaven
12. Harley Darling

 

I've been following The Pretty Reckless from their debut album, and have seen them live a handful of times, so Death By Rock And Roll was certainly an album I was looking forward to.

It's been well over five years since the release of their previous album, Who You Selling For, and I'm happy to say that Death By Rock And Roll is a return to that more polished 'Big Rock' sound of the first two records, as opposed to the more lo-fi 70's vibe of the last one.

Death By Rock And Roll has a maturity and a darkness to it, and is quite a substantial offering in that respect. Most importantly, the album is full of great songs. 

The title track is an awesome rocker with a badass main riff and tons of attitude. Only Love Can Save Me Now not only sounds like Soundgarden but features two of their members. The Pretty Reckless have always had a strong flavour of Grunge and 90's Rock and this collaboration works nicely, as does the following track which features Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine, whose distinctive guitar tone adds a nice bite to this fierce track.

25 sounds like a Bond theme. it even appears to have some 007 references in the lyrics. Maybe it's going to be in the next movie? Maybe it's a tribute? There's always the possibility that it's nothing to do with James Bond. Regardless, it's a haunting, beautiful track.

My Bones is one of their heaviest tracks and has an 'electric tribal' vibe, and contrasts nicely with the  next song, the ballad Got So High. Both are incredible and could easily be singles. 

Witches Burn may well be my over-all favourite track here, with its AC/DC-style swagger and massive chorus.

As an album in its entirety, Death By Rock And Roll is easily their best yet. The standard of song-writing, production, and performance top-level throughout, and I'm sure that this will prove to be one of the best albums of 2021.