Bassist Mat Sinner's eponymous band has been around a long time and Tequila Suicide is the whopping 18th full-length album in their extensive discography. I haven't paid the band much attention over the years other than a song or two here and there, and after listening to this one several times over the last couple of days, I'm glad.
Tequila Suicide, as if the name shouldn't have screamed a warning at me, is full of the upbeat, bluesy hard rock that was prevalent here in the states in the mid-80s. Lyrics about booze ("Tequila Suicide") and the evils of women ("Dragons") and other 80s topics grace much of the album and wouldn't be out of place on a Cinderella or Y&T record. Sinner moves a little closer to metal with Dio-inspired songs like "Gypsy Rebels" and the album highlight "Loud & Clear" with its meaner riffing and attitude and you feel like maybe there's some redemption here. Then we're back in the 80s crap with "Dying on a Broken Heart" which is only missing a soft-focus video of Bret Michaels with his cowboy hat and acoustic guitar. To give this even more perspective, my wife, who is not a metal fan, asked, "is this glam?" Bingo.
Now, I'm not going to say this isn't well played as that would be untrue and the songs are catchy, to be fair, but Sinner is a long way off the metal reservation with Tequila Suicide. If a trip back to the heyday of the L.A. "metal" scene sounds like fun, be my guest, but if actual Power Metal is what you seek, look elsewhere.
