Towers Of London - Blood, Sweat & Towers Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 09.01.2006
The fun of hair metal meets Oasis-style Britpop meets the Sex Pistols. And it works!
My Story
I have a deep seeded hatred for modern punk, punk-pop in particular. It didn’t have to be this way. When punk-pop emerged from the grunge scene back in the mid-90’s, there were some major bright spots. On one end of that spectrum was Weezer, a band that is so hard to categorize that they’ve been credited with everything from punk to emo. But there was a different sound that eventually emerged as the frontrunner in punk-pop, a sound that was popularized by the Bay Area punks know as Green Day. After Green Day broke out with the snotty, “I Don’t Give A FUCK”, English-affected Dookie, punk-pop blew up huge on the radio. Bands like The Offspring and The Presidents Of The United States Of America drank from the wellspring of Green Day and made great, hard driving music as well. Then blink-182 broke and fucked everything up.
Today, the punk-pop scene is a wasteland, just another used up, burned out valley that corporate America raped and pillaged, dissecting its very soul and tossing it out the BMW window on the way to the bank. Will UK’s Towers of London be another product of this uncreative, long tapped-out genre, or something new? Let’s find out.
Their Story
The Towers Of London began to come together as early as the late-90’s in Liverpool, England, eventually gelling as the combination of charismatic frontman Donny Tourette and his brother, guitarist Dick, The Rev (guitar), Tommy Brunette (bass) and Snell (drums). The band combined their love of late-70’s UK punk and 80’s glam metal to create a driving punk-pop that, blended with the band’s on- and offstage antics, broke them as a major name on the UK rock scene in 2004.
By 2005, the Towers Of London were beginning to tour bigger venues and with bigger acts. With an energetic and sin-laden live show, the Towers were generating a buzz throughout British music circles. You could say their big “breakthrough” was when lead singer Tourette was forced to appear in court after destroying a stage during a February show in Cambridge. The Towers inked a deal with TVT Records shortly after.
The Towers released a series of singles throughout 2005 that garnered the band tons of radio play. The songs “Fuck It Up”, “How Rude She Was” and “On A Noose” were all hot Top 40 singles throughout Europe. By 2006, Guns N’ Roses had invited the band to support them during their summer UK tour. The Towers also played on the main stage of this year’s Reading And Leeds Festival.
“The Towers Of London”, a 10-part television documentary series that followed the band during the days before and after this year’s Download Festival, is set to premier in mid-October on the Bravo Network.
The Album
On August 1, 2006, TVT Records released Blood, Sweat & Towers, the debut album from British hard rockers Towers Of London. The US Enhanced CD version contains the bonus tracks “I Lose It” and “Son Of A Preacher”, as well as videos for “Air Guitar” and “Fuck It Up (Acoustic Version)”.
The Band: 8.5
Donny Touretty: vocals
Dick Tourette: guitar
The Rev: lead guitar
Tommy Brunette: bass
Snell: drums
First off, yes, I’ll admit, this album is nothing groundbreaking. The Towers Of London couldn’t be more obviously borrowing from the UK punk of the Sex Pistols and the debauchery-influenced rock of 80’s hair metal. But it doesn’t matter. This album is fun. Donny Tourette sings with all the fire of his influences (Liam Gallagher of Oasis springs to mind), showing off both the attitude of and love for the hard rock that TOL plays so well. Sure, his antics may have gotten him more press than his abilities, but the prowess is there, as is that wry British sneer.
The rest of the band plays a marriage of Oasis-style Britpop and a loose, drunken hard rock akin to the late-80’s L.A. hair metal scene. The Rev busts out some great solos that shows he’s been studying his Slash for quite a while. The entire gang knows just when to sing along, too, and that happens often on Blood, Sweat & Towers, which is packed full of pub anthems and arena rock goodness.
Stacy Jones, frontman for rockers American Hi-Fi, makes his production debut hear and proves he knows just how to handle this style of balls-out rock. The drums sound huge, which increases the chances that these catchy, cocky tunes will be pounding in your brain for quite a while.
The Songs: 9.5
1. I’m A Rat
2. Air Guitar
3. Kill The Pop Scene
4. Beaujolais
5. Fuck It Up (Acoustic Version)
6. King
7. Good Times
8. On A Noose
9. Start Believing
10. Northern Lights
11. I Lose It
12. Fuck It Up
13. How Rude She Was
14. Son Of A Preacher
15. Seen It All
As I said earlier, this set is fun, and you need look no further than the titles to see that. Sing-alongs like the blistering “I’m A Rat”, Misfits-like “Fuck It Up” and the infectious “Air Guitar” will keep you putting this album on time and again. It’s the perfect high energy CD, really, one that’s so funny you’ll be pulling it out for your friends, but so memorable that you won’t be loaning it out.
“Air Guitar” is a hilarious number, with its opening lyrics lifted from “Ice, Ice Baby”, of all places, letting you know that TOL is doing anything but taking themselves too seriously. It’s also the perfect first single proper.
But the band isn’t only a 20-years late British answer to Poison, they’ve also got some great chops when it comes to modern British pop/rock. The defiant “Kill The Pop Scene” is a good example of this, as is the White Stripes-ish acoustic track “Son Of A Preacher”. “How Rude She Was”, on the other hand, would fit easily on radio alongside the latest hit by Jet.
There are a couple of missteps here. The acoustic version of “Fuck It Up” finds Donny Tourette going down to a lower register to mild results, sounding for all the world like Nick Cave fronting an alt-country band. The rock ‘n’ roll call-to-arms “Start Believing” nearly misses its mark completely, but goes by fast enough to be forgiven.
Altogether, though, Blood, Sweat & Towers is an awesome debut from a band that has studied the last three decades of rock with interest. Its big dumb hooks and middle finger-flipping lyrics belie the band’s skill as pop craftsman, but, then again, that’s not the point. The point is to rock ‘n’ roll.
The 411: Towers Of London have somehow revitalized the fun and sinful essence of hair metal by injecting it with 70’s British punk’s attitude. What results is an energetic and hilarious romp called Blood, Sweat & Towers. The album is full of big hooks, bad attitude and charisma to spare. Songs like “Air Guitar” and “Fuck It Up” are made for big arenas, while cuts like “Kill The Pop Scene” and “King” give the band that hip, underground vibe that American music listeners like in their Britpop bands. Whether you’re an aging hair metal survivor or a 20-something indie rock hipster, if you want to rock ‘n’ roll, buy this CD.
