On Top – “Topless” [EP] [Album Review]

Damn, it must be hard to be a modern-day, hard rockin’ band choosing to sing about tried and tested hard rockin’ topics like chicks, booze, partying, partying with chicks and booze, and all the sleazy stuff that seemed so edgy, dangerous and awesome when I (and maybe you) was a young and inexperienced pre-teen ass-hat, reveling in hormones and impending freedom from parental shackles.

Political correctness, the strive towards gender equality and sensitivity, combined with everyone being so goddamn easily offended about everything these days means no longer are the days of Motley Crüe getting away with thinly (or not-so-thinly) veiled sexual assault, vehicular manslaughter, and all the shit that other stuff mentioned in The Dirt, in the name of crotch hugging/grabbing rock much of an option anymore. Well, they are, but just assume that someone is going to get their britches in a bunch, take to Facebook to bitch, complain and try and shut down your shows. To which, I proclaim: just try it. On Top has virtually no online presence.

So, give it up for Pennsylvania’s On Top, a trio of young’uns who were likely a gleam in the eyes of two strangers in the parking lot of the Philly stop on Ratt’s Detonator tour. Give it up, not because they ignore social media and aren’t shy about their appreciation of the female form, but because they even dare to exist as a band that flies in the face of musical trends and social sensibilities, even if now isn’t a time when hard/cock rock is at its sleaziest and most debauched.

On Top pays decent homage to revved up days of being lewd, crude and tattooed with raunchy riffs, vocals that drip with sneering attitude and a drumming one-two punch that solidly hits at the heart of the matter like a hammer slamming a nail. As well, this four-song EP excels in the six-string department as co-vocalist/guitarist Brian Davis summons a heroic amount of guitar heroism throughout, but especially in the absolute ripper he burns his finger pads on to close out “Lie to Me.”

The tendency will be to file On Top in the same folder as Steel Panther – ’80s sleaze with an updated edge – but the differences here lie in the fact that this particular band, 1) doesn’t appear to be a parody of an unforgotten era, and 2) is comprised of members from a younger age bracket. You can hear the urgency and energy in their music that comes not from being in the jungle or being public enemy number one, but from this generation’s lightning fast pace, quest for immediacy and addiction to energy drinks. If you ever wished bands like Dokken, L.A. Guns and so on and so forth had more consistent and overall flash to meet their guitar dash, then check these kiddos out. Unless you have a problem with tits, that is.

Track Listing:

01. 282
02. Go Crazy
03. Got Me Runnin’
04. Lie to Me

Run Time: 13:37
Release Date: July 9, 2015

Check out the song “Lie to Me” here.