‘Stay Classy’ is pretty good for what it is, but what it is is hardly awe-inspiring. Taking nods from Every Time I Die and the southern metal of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, new Ferret signings The Hottness mix up the sexy swagger and bloodthirsty screams of the two bands to come up with a ferocious brand of rock and roll that, unfortunately, borrows a little too much from the scream/sing formula to really forge a gap in the hardcore market.
That’s not to say there aren’t good songs on this record. Because there are a few great efforts. ‘This City Is Ours’ mixes things up nicely and is, to be fair, more melodic than some of the other tracks. But they manage to nicely balance the beauty and brutality and it works well. ‘The Ghost‘ does exactly the same, showcasing guitar riffs that are meaty and suit the music perfectly. The downside is that this does sound a lot like a myriad of other bands kicking around right now and, as such, it hardly screams out to be listened to for any great length of time. Fans of the genre will certainly enjoy this, but the rest of us probably won’t get any kind of long-term enjoyment out of it.