Most people will be aware that Juliette And The Licks are fronted by US actress Juliette Lewis, but may not have taken the time to check them out. ‘Four On The Floor’ is a surprisingly ‘punk’ affair with a heavy dose of rock n roll attitude. The album starts off well with ‘Smash and Grab’, a catchy opener with a great guitar lick that will be stuck in your head for days. The song beams with confidence, but in a good way – the band mean business. Next two tracks ‘Hot Kiss’ and ‘Sticky Honey’ are more of the same, and tick all the right boxes in how write a good rock n roll song.
‘Killer’ ups the pace a bit and is a real burst of energy, while pulling influence from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the vocal style. From their name and other obvious reasons, Juliette Lewis is the centre of attention in the band, and rightly so. Her singing style fits perfectly with the kind of music, and she adds a sense of style and flair to the songs. However, the album isn’t all plain sailing, with a couple of mediocre tracks filling up the end of the album; ‘Purgatory Blues’ possibly being the lowest point. In spite of this, the band manages to keep up the energy without letting their formula become stale or overused. It’s hard to pinpoint who exactly would like this album, but I’ll attempt to by saying that if you’re a fan of well written, catchy, no frills rock music, then this album may well be for you.
Andrew C
