Glad you asked. It's sharp and urgent rock ’n’ roll played by four old heads from Central Scotland who sound like they mean it. If Cheap Trick wore kilts, ate haggis and were hard to understand after 10 pints they’d be The Media Whores.This is unabashed guitar pop, no doubt about it, and who cares how unfashionable it’s become. The Media Whores don’t give a rat’s rissole and nor should you. These lads cram more hooks and spiky riffs into this 10-song long-player than a dozen bands half their age.
Take a dip into almost any of these songs and you’ll remember when this stuff and not the vacuous hip-hop or bland shite going by the devalued tag “R & B” penetrated your consciousness via mainstream radio. Guitars abound. The rhythms are human. The instruments are real. All that's pretty novel in these troubled times but if it's unacceptable to you, best you take your leave now.
The Media Whores are about songs. Good ones. There’s a soaring hook in “Come And Have It” that’ll have you reaching for the high notes and the air guitar simultaneously. “Burlesque” is a boy’s own stroll through the art of undressing with tightly coiled guitar.
Vocalist-guitarist Craig Anderson has a classic pop voice that wraps itself equally well around the rockers or the contemplative crooners like “Steering Wheel”. The band behind him is tighter than a Scotsman’s purse on payday with drummer Joe Jaconelli something of a powerhouse.
Just in case you thought The Media Whores were all three chord tunes and backstage riders there’s a thoughtful geopolitical commentary piece in “World At War” that gives thinkers something to chew on. Mostly, though, it’s stomping rockers (“King Kong”) or scuzzy-edged guitar (courtesy of lead player Jimbo Mackellar) to get you through.
“Black January” and “Sinside My Head” are the odd songs out, the latter a lounge lizard diversion and the former straying into syncopated rhythms that may have been best left to tend to themselves. Is my rock bias showing? Your results may vary and they are an indication that The Media Whores won’t be typecast.
