Review: Wednesday 13 – Fang Bang

Sergio reviews Wednesday 13’s Fang Bang.

Artist Name: Wednesday 13
Album Name: Fang Bang
Year: 2006
Genre: Horror Rock

Raspy-voiced rocker, Wednesday 13, has come along way since his Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 and Murderdolls days, and his second solo effort was never going to disappoint his legion of ghoulish fans. Whilst different from Transylvania 90210, Fang Bang still manages to enhance Mr. 13’s reputation as the new leader of the horror rock movement.

Drawing inspiration from punk and sleaze rock, the album’s sound is relatively simple and revolves around the traditional power-chord approach. Critics have slammed the lack of technicality, but honestly, it’s nice to see an artist go back to the basics and borrow a bit from The Ramones songwriting handbook. The deathly guitar effects also add a certain peculiarity to his sound, making the record unique and unlike anything else out there.

The strongest point of Fang Bang is the lyrics, which are extremely tongue-in-cheek and touch on topics from horror movies and black humour themes. The infectious, anthemic quality of a track, such as ‘Till Death Do Us Party’, can easily be termed ‘horror pop’ or ‘psycho radio’ – songs that possess commercial value, but are unlikely to ever find radio airplay due to their gruesome tone.

Simply put, if you want to “rock out with your cock hanging out”, Fang Bang is the perfect party album for you. Just please, don’t take it seriously and kill your partner or start digging for corpses to shag.

Best Tracks: ‘Happily Ever Cadaver’, ‘Curse of Me’ and ‘Till Death Do Us Party’

70/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
Join MusicReview on Facebook