Well, who let the Hells Angels in? We just got one of the most anticipated "follow-ups" of the year in the form of the second demo from Chicago's own 18 SPEED TRANNY, and boy howdy, it is a scorcher! Only one thing wrong with it - because it clocks in at a little over 20 minutes, you still have serious drool on your face! These guys rawk with that northern-power-trio kinda thing. If you didn't get their first release, "Fluid", you have missed an opportunity to whet your appetite before this main course of "Diablito" drops onto your fine china. 18ST serves up a very riff-heavy groove with great bass work, and "fluid" solos, creating an atmosphere like lighting up while sweeping out your garage. It's dirty, raw stoner rock with metal overtones.

Ken Harlev (vocals and guitar) oozes a Keenan/Wino sound, bass work comes courtesy of Kris Wojtyla (who on a bad day sounds like Geezer), and pounding supreme by Tom Crone. Like other power trios, the music is stripped-down, but layered with depth. Track 2, "Broken Mind" has a southern COC feel, moving from fast to slow to fast again tempo-wise, and featuring a very Robin Trower-ish solo smack in the middle. "Pink Hole" will win you over with it's stops, starts, and huge bass groove; it's a track that showcases the great things still to come from these guys. "Justice" starts with a classic SABBATH mix, evolv ing into a RUSH / BUDGIE sort of affair that would make make the "two Tonys" proud. My favorite song on this disc is "Waiting to Happen", with its cool MAIDEN speed riff, giving my neck that sweet release it needs to loosen up if ya know what I mean. These guys need your love so they can stop recording in abandoned buildings and get into a studio, so help them out at the link below and get this molten slab.

-Murtaugh

OFFICIAL SITE: www.18speedtranny.com

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