‘Hard-hitting Hamilton rock’n’roll’ – hell yeah! It may seem like it would be easy to write and perform high-energy, straight-ahead rock songs with sing-along choruses, but it’s not as simple as it appears. Rebel Sound Radio have nailed it, and the recording from Depot Sound captures the grunt of their sound without burying the vocals. The three-piece of guitarist/singer Jessie James Hanright, bassist Craig Turner and Ashley Goodare on drums have chucked in a few well-timed breakdown sections to make the rest of the riffage even heavier when it reappears. In fact, the six-song album is paced like a good rocking set that would get a venue pumping. The songs are uniformly good, so let’s look at a random example. Tearing Them Down has a mellow intro that leads into big riffs, some great transitions, a punchy, distorted bass solo, and an Offspring-style chorus that you’ll be compelled to sing along with. I could see this trio being billed with a band like Head Like A Hole… oh wait, it seems they’re playing with them this New Year! If you don’t get the chance to see them before then, it might be worth a trip to Mt. Maunganui (Mount Big Mountain? Is that right?) for that one.