Review by Greg Maki
—–
“Still Believe in Rock and Roll,” the third release from Canadian band The Wild!, is a blistering battle cry, a giant fist in the air, a celebration of something that, for those of us who have pledged our allegiance to it, is so much more than music.
The members of The Wild!—vocalist/guitarist Dylan Villain, guitarist The Kid, bassist Boozus and drummer Crash Anderson—have devoted their lives to rock ‘n’ roll, and their passion and commitment bleed through every one of the record’s 10 tracks. They give us nine full-throttle rockers—think early AC/DC meets Motorhead—before slowing down to show a different, more reflective side on the album-closing “Gasoline.” All the songs are autobiographical to some degree, but on this one, Dylan opens up completely—powerful, moving stuff.
Other highlights include “Nothin’ Good Comes Easy” (if that isn’t the truth, I don’t know what is), the appropriately up-tempo “High Speed,” the title track and the riotous “Goin’ to Hell,” which revels in rock ‘n’ roll’s longtime designation as the devil’s music. If that’s the case, hell most definitely is the place to be.
To society at large, rock might not be the “cool” genre of music these days (whatever that means), but real rock fans never cared about that anyway. Pop culture can keep its trendy flavors of the week. Like The Wild! says so well, some of us still believe in rock ‘n’ roll, and as long as there are bands like this flying the flag, it’s never going away.
Rating: 9/10
Entertainment One Music – March 20, 2020
LINKS:
www.thewildrocknroll.com
www.facebook.com/thewildrocknroll
www.twitter.com/thewild_band
www.instagram.com/thewild_band
www.youtube.com/thewildrocknroll
www.soundcloud.com/thewildrocknroll