Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Sticky Licks, The
Label: Self-released
Released: 2015
Running time: 48:18
Rating: 3.5/5
The Sticky Licks, Styrian hard rock / rock’n’roll desperadoes, already got people’s attention back in 2012 with a nicely packaged EP, »No Money«. Now they’re coming at us with a studio debut. These potent stallions deliver a full 13 bouncy tracks on it, loaded with a healthy dose of adrenaline rush, cheeky, scruffy rock’n’roll, and at the same time a commendable diversity of motifs, which means varied moods and, for the most part, satisfying dynamics as the album unfolds.
Obviously, in the genre groove where The Sticky Licks live, it’s hard to discover a musical revolution in 2015. But if you approach the thing with heart, passion and commitment, the result can always be convincing enough. The Sticky Likcs deliver an album that’s bubbling with life in the production and thickly slathered with decisive rock phrases. You can feel the influence of, say, listening to The Rolling Stones, there are noticeable detours into flirting with Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, The Quireboys, and at times The Stick Likcs try to wrap themselves in black, mostly thanks to the manly, mid-range, slightly nasal vocals, but also thanks to the shaping of some phrases (opener Man of Sand, Radiator Woman), modeled on The Cult. So there’s a noticeable bluesy component, along with a veil of rock’n’roll rascality and rooster-like swagger, which has always gone well together.
The guys approach the arrangements with enough initiative, so the format of classic guitar phrases gets widened with the fertilizing touch of »honky tonk piano« arrangements (Feel Alright), as well as horns (in the funky, mischievous Low Life). The only song sung in Slovenian, Ljubezen hladnega dekleta, nicely spices up the set of 13 tracks (the rest are sung in decent English, where they’ll need to be a touch more precise in the future, both in delivery and in meter) and brings a more recognizably confessional character.
Even though the guys carefully worked on polishing the format of every song, the final effect (the general feeling) when listening to the album is that The Sticky Licks could have saved three tracks for their next studio album. A solid first step in their career and a nicely rock-honed debut that the band can be proud of.
Line-up
Mario Pešič – vocals
Janez Rotman – guitar
Bratko Zavrnik – guitar
Matic Burazer – bass guitar
Primož Verdinek – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Denis Horvat – keyboards
Martin Janežič “Buco” – percussion, vocals
Sašo Fekonja – saxophone
Niko Poštrak – trombone
Rok Krajnc – trumpet
Matic Jereb – harmonica
Bert Logar – backing vocals
Ursula Luthar – backing vocals
Production
Matej Gobec
Tracklist
1. Man of Sand
2. Dancing Queen
3. Feel Alright
4. Low Life
5. Radiator Woman
6. Ljubezen hladnega dekleta
7. Library
8. No Money Blues
9. Feel Chili
10. Same Place Same Bar
11. Things to Share
12. Burns Out
13. Sorrow
