Like their British counterparts The Struts, Biters mine the past to preserve its future, but new album The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be actually suggests the past may not be the rich vein it once was.
Make no mistake, Biters are a great rock band. They look the part, they act the part, Tuk is a proper star, and they can toss off tunes as easily as Gordon Ramsay plates crab cakes: Back To Georgia and Hollywood are both masterful ballads.
But listening to an album that continually triggers memories of other bands cannot possibly be an effective business model, however Proustian the rush, and it’s probably time Biters found their own sound instead of paying such capable homage to everyone else.
As it is, Marc Bolan comes off the subs’ bench for Stone Cold Love and Gypsy Rose – both benefit from a liberal sprinkling of T.Rex glitter – while Cheap Trick are much in evidence throughout. Elsewhere there are hat-tips to Queen, AC/DC, ELO, the Glitter Band and Eliminator-era ZZ Top. Plus ça change, etc.
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