What kind of cynical so-and-so enjoys bursting the glistening bubble of promise? It's not a pleasurable past-time by any means. But hell, people have a right to know. Ladies and gentlemen, Andrew W.K. is distinctly, definitely, decidedly average.
The 22-year-old NYC geezer with the bloody nose has had his hairy, hedonistic metal-pop hyped to high heaven. Current single 'Party Hard' is moshing mentally around the UK Top Twenty right now. And debut album 'I Get Wet' features another eleven identikit tracks - over a gloriously brief 35 minutes.
Jim Bob and Fruitbat may feel that a comeback is in the offing after listening to this. For where Carter USM would harness their superior synthy beats to edgy punk rock guitars and caustic kitchen sink lyrics, Mr W.K. chooses metal/goth/glam riffing and "live hard" lyrics on songs such as 'It's Time To Party', 'Party Til You Puke', 'Fun Night' and 'Don't Stop Living In The Red'.
Sticking to the same relentless pace throughout, W.K. and his karaoke Marilyn Manson growl conjure up thoughts of Van Halen, Zodiac Mindwarp, Gary Glitter, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Ramones and Slayer. Hell, there's even a bit of Terrorvision in there too.
Not rock's latest saviour then but a young chap with a lot of energy, a few catchy anthemic tunes and a lust for life. By the way... W supposedly stands for 'the world of strength and unity, the shape of two arms locked in unwielding power', while K represents 'the consumption of the universe', the continuous symbol of greater than, less than, always level'. Hmmm, bubble barely intact then... party hard dudes!
