Matadors

Yippeeeee! It’s Matadors time! Plug it in and lets party like it’s 1992! Yes, that’s right. 1992! Forget those bands of way back when. Gas Huffer. Mother Love Bone. The Mono Men. All great bands that never had a tribute band…until now (zing!).

Fifteen years late, but who the hell’s counting? Matadors work on Swedish time, baby. It’s not their fault - nobody told them that the war’s over, and Seattle lost. Hell, for all I know they’re keeping it real and trying to do a Dave Clark Five impersonation. Christ, at the very least you’d think The Hives would have dropped by to tell ‘em.

Don’t let the ads or press fool you. Billing Matadors as “Stoner Rock” is not accurate. Unless Poison 13 ever counted as stoner rock. Nope, these boys are straight outta tha’ garage and let me tell you – their garages are a whole lot cleaner than ours. What does that mean? Well it means that Flame the Whisper is sixteen tracks of competent-yet-senseless Sub-Pop nostalgia for the kids too young to remember - and trust me this album isn’t exactly gonna have them asking their slightly older uncle if they could borrow his Mudhoney collection. It’ll bore them to tears and reinforce the apathy already coursing through their Skyy Vodka soaked designer-drug addled brains. So for heaven’s sake, won’t someone please think of the children.

5.2 / 10 — Kevin Fitzpatrick