Search - Rtx :: Western Xterminator

TOTALLY FRESH!!

Joe Frederick | USA | 06/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Do not take lightly the band who emblazon their name on butcher knives. That's the image that stares back at your reflection from the Western Xterminator CD, and if you know anything about RTX leader Jennifer Herrema, you know she's just the type to gash first and ask questions later. She does on Xterminator, morphing the gutter sludge and dope sick stutter of Royal Trux' early years into hard rock appropriate for a band with a jumble of crossbeam consonants for a name. "Balls to Pass" wouldn't be too far from Poison were it not for the reverb that whisks around its riff like the smoke off a flared match, and "Dude Love" has it all: cymbal-catch breakdowns, more cowbell, and effects like someone just got a Guitar Center gift certificate. "Last Ride," meanwhile, might be the best rocker here, if only because of its unabashed love for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. And yet, even when it's straightforward - it's simple: unscrew vice, insert balls - Herrema and RTX can't play hard rock and metal exactly as they learned it in their youth. She needs to distort its empty pursuit of hedonism, to hijack that desire and drive it toward something darker. Amazing!! Totally FRESH!"

"Thank You" crossed with "Too Fast for Love"

paulsubpopman | 08/27/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well lets start off by saying this whole 80's metal thing she's got going isnt for everyone. But to me it suits her just fine. Because ther is enough Royal Trux weirdness to offset the L.A. Motley Crue Vibe they are gunning for. But what makes this instantly buyable for me is a cover of "Mudhoney's" "The Money Will Roll Right In". Coolness!"