(Suburban) www.suburban.nl
The Spades are tough as nails punk n'
rollers from Amsterdam who are firmly entrenched in the Chuck Berry-Johnny
Thunders- Motorhead-Dwarves axis of evil. Sure, I realize that those are
all basically the same band, just with varying degrees of snarliness, and
so do the Spades. They're not trying to re-invent the wheel or nothin',
they're just looking to drive that well-worn fucker down the demon highway
in serial killer style. Forgive my typically Yank-bred ignorance of other
cultures, but I didn't even know they had black guys in the Netherlands,
never mind 5 of them to fuel a death-defying motorpunk band, but The
Spades take their name literally, in a self-effacing sort of way, and it's
been a long time, since Sound Barrier or The Dirty Rats or Znowhite, or
hell, since early 80's Clevo headbangers Black Death even, that an
afro-centric rock band has stepped up to show their lily-white brethren
how it's done. And how it's done is with speed, ferocity, and an (un)healthy
dose of GG Allin-esque misogyny. If the songs don't outright start with
"This song's about killin' your woman" than they at least
mention smacking her around a little. Of course, I've never been to
Amsterdam; maybe those chicks deserve it. Besides all the bitch slap
rapping, the Spades cocaine tongues even stretch for a little NYC cop
bashing, or maybe just rampant sado-masochism, in the entirely over the
top "Beat Me", which not only mentions shoving sticks up
people's asses, but has a rousing chorus that goes, "Rape me, I
fucking like it!" Over a Dead Boys riff, no less. Like I said, tough
as nails. Fans of full tilt danger rock would be wise to just take the
album title's advice and bow down to the almighty Spades before they have
to come after you.