If Steel Panther are the tribute act to end all backcombed, lipsticked paeans to the glam then Reckless Love aren’t far behind. Notorious for singer Olli Herman, a man who causes girls to drop their knickers at one glimpse of his washboard abs, they’ve capitalised on the sex’n’sunshine, sleaze-infested 80s hair metal scene to come out with records splicing Mötley Crüe played at the cruising speed of Def Leppard’s Hysteria with semi-anthems that depend on big solos and hand-clap choruses.
Not much has changed for their third album, Spirit. The lazily named Sex, Drugs & Reckless Love is a mid-tempo radio-friendly ode to shagging, a theme seen elsewhere: Bad Lovin’ proudly exclaims that straight, gay or bi you can ‘do it anyway’ while Olli uses the timeless efficiency of metaphor to ‘eat’ that ‘sugar-coated’ female in Favourite Flavor.
With a Slave To The Grind vibe, Metal Ass pushes the speed limit and UK bonus track Die Hard goes for the statement of intent. But as usual, the single does the legwork, in this case the blazing Night On A Fire, which distils every drop of Bon Jovi into three minutes of pure orgasmic joy.
