ALBUM REVIEW: Untamed – Sandness

Italian hair metal band SANDNESS are the epitome sleaze, cheese and well…fun. Inspired by the classic rock sound of the 80s, their new record Untamed is a frolicking blast from the past while attempting to update the genre into the now, and on this third full-length offering it’s all neatly packed into eleven tracks bathing in lavish swathes of guitar solos and rollicking choruses.

There’s no time wasted getting down to business on Untamed; it’s opener Life’s A Thrill erupting in a playful romp coupled with a crystal clear production that immediately sets SANDNESS apart from their peers. Where the glam metal revival movement (if it can be called a movement) seems plagued by bands accidentally caricaturing legendary rock icons of the time by becoming a pastiche of their fashion and attitude without the polished product; SANDNESS succeed by not taking themselves too seriously but still delivering the goods.

That fact is starkly clear on Tyger Bite. A catchy chorus threatens to become earworm worthy, never stepping foot into mimicking territory but instead proving that the stomp and air pumping atmosphere is completely their own. What’s strikingly different here too is vocalist ROBBY LUCKETS‘ Italian accent — adding a reinvigorated twist to the American attitude we are now accustomed to.

London in itself lays on the sentimentality of rock and roll in its heyday. Chronicling the sights and sounds of the city and its home of rock in Camden Town, the band go on to transport the listener on a night out. Imagine this: the dirty market and it’s over populated tourist shops that turn into the mecca for rockers once the sun goes down, its dwindling strip of rock clubs and bars hosting the last of the Camden punks and goths with faded gig posters and sticky bar stools that have seen far better days.

The latter half of Untamed hosts a sultrier side to SANDNESS. The Deepest Side Of Me and Until It’s Over sees the band explore the sexier throes of hair metal, with LUCKETS crooning “Baby listen to the call of tonight, It’s time to give it a try, Evil angel bring me up to the sky, Higher and higher be the pleasure in the street lights,” with a cheeky attitude — while MARK DENKLEY‘s bass jovially leads the charge in the rhythm department. And of course no hair metal record would be complete without the ceaseless references to “saving rock and roll” as found in Radio Show and Only The Youth. As if rock really ever did die.

While the resurrection of an over saturated sound (and genre) can seem irrelevant in today’s musical climate, what SANDNESS have done here is prove that there is still life in the old dog yet. You can tell the band have been let loose this time around and striven to have fun with it, and for that Untamed is a record that deserves it’s place in the now — if not only because its choice cuts have the habit to rattle around your head for days.

Rating: 7/10

Untamed is set for release June 14th via ROCKSHOTS Records. 

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