Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: HairX
Label: Self-released
Release: 2017
Running time: 35:05
Rating: 3.5/5
Just as the famous Blackie Lawless once dubbed himself an animal, which made W.A.S.P.’s 1984 debut a target of censorship in the US, HairX have gone with something equally »animalistic« for their studio debut. HairX are a fresh, new rock band from Vrtojba, near Gorizia. In short: HairX is a hugely self-confident, sharply focused quintet that tackles the recent legacy of glam metal with real power, creative fire, elan and drive, and a lot of nerve. The very legacy that ruled the world rock map in the second half of the eighties, especially through the Los Angeles Sunset Strip.
The band, which had consolidated into a solid lineup by 2016, managed to put out its original debut this spring. The quintet is made up of talented, excellent musicians who know that songwriting and performance quality have to come first, and they stand behind it with full vehemence, while the obligatory glam kitsch and frills take a back seat. Think of bands like Autograph, Firehouse, L.A. Guns and/or Skid Row. They were all famous for kitsch, debauchery and strutting vanity, yet they justified it with outstanding songwriting chops and excellent albums. HairX follow the same formula. In places the debut shows a bit of beginner’s naivety in how it combines lead phrases and transitions (Last Story, the less interesting ballad Fly), but that’s normal for a debut, especially when you take on an archaic genre like the one HairX take on, where you first have to be really good to credibly justify playing around with it. Still, the tracks Tonight, Rebel, Animals, D.T.G., Crazy Dreams and the closing stampede of We’re Gonna Rock fully justify the verdict on the album “Animals” laid out in the first part of this paragraph.
Other times are upon us, too. Especially when it comes to production, the album Animals« follows a low-budget approach to sound, though even that kind of production holds up just as it should. It has the live energy you want, and a raw garage-style edge has rubbed off on it too, which brings the final product closer in sonic aesthetic to the early days of metal and, not least, punk. The latter in particular suits the band’s cheeky, swaggering look, in front of which not a single girl will be safe. And although a Mötley Crüe spirit hangs in the air throughout, it comes through best in the song dedicated to the girls, where the band also happily tries its hand at using the Slovenian language.
Already on the debut “Animals” the band made it clear and loud that these are talented songwriters who know how to build a track with a clear head and tail, where musicality takes the lead in the choruses and where the main guitar phrases are distinctive enough and instantly catchy enough for these good 35 minutes of music to boast the real core of seething adrenaline rush and roaring surplus testosterone, the untamed youthfulness of these five crazy stallions. The band approaches songwriting with commitment, which they also prove by contrasting the (color) drama of the atmosphere with additional vocal harmonies layered over the lead vocal. That is one of the hardest elements in the vibe of glam, AOR or (if you like) melodic rock, yet it’s a must-have building block for reaching top-tier pomp packaging in songwriting.
So with their very first step into their discography, the guys firmly announce a crew that serves up vivid solos in the middle instrumental passages (the “mid-eight” parts), while Miha Polanc’s vocals bring a hefty dose of potent punch that grabs your attention in the songs and speaks convincingly to the listener the whole way through. He’s an excellent vocalist, and English gives him no trouble at all. What’s always interesting is this vocal contrast between Slovenian and English, which can also be decisive in creating the desired mood. With HairX, that contrast is delivered by the song D.T.C., which shows that the album “Animals” would have kept all its credibility even if it had been sung entirely in Slovenian. Let’s hope that in the future the band upgrades and polishes its use of English in the verse meter a bit, so the melodies sound even more predatory than they already do. There are still some expressive reserves to tap here, but these are minor details that, with the right optimization, can win the band a victorious poker hand of aces in its compositions.
The album “Animals” has everything a debut from a band inspired by the gains of eighties glam metal and hard rock should have. It has power, rawness, just the right amount of bristling edge, a welcome level of songwriting punch, excellent execution (solos and vocals included) and a lively, vibrant, almost live-sounding production! With it, the band takes a solid foundational step toward defining its own sound and style. A record, then, that it can be proud of, that deserves as many live presentations as possible and, not least, a real springboard from which the band can, in the future, deepen its artistic musical dossier with total ease.
Lineup
Miha Polanc (Polo) – vocals
David Gorikič (D.D.) – guitar
Partik Drole (Palo) – guitar
Tilen Jarc (Tilče) – bass guitar
Kristjan Čuk – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Mario Murgič – backing vocals on tracks 3 and 5
Boštjan Pertinač – backing vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer
Julija Polanc – backing vocals on track 7
Production
Boštjan Pertinač
