North Manchester’s kings of rock n’ roll sleaze Filth & Majesty are back with a new set of grimy, gritty, and dangerously loud songs.
The 12-track Eviction Party picks right up where 2021’s Who Killed Friday Night left off. The raging kegger of Who Killed Friday Night kept going until our favorite four-piece got themselves kicked out on their rock n’ roll butts (metaphorically or literally, you decide.)
On Eviction Party, Jeff Iseton, Steve Iseton, Mark Wagley, and Brandon Clark stick to the meat-and-potatoes punk/metal they’ve mastered and honed into a fine tinnitus-inducing, whiplash-gifting sound. No piano ballads or folksy acoustic strummers, Eviction Party is 12 tracks of beer-fueled rock n’ roll bombast.
From the opening cacophony of noise on “Rather Be Sloppy” and its opening line, “Someone get me a f—— drink!” you know what kind of party this is. From the punk rock tempo and vocals turned up the 11, there’s a Social Distortion-meets-Kiss vibe that pulls you right in.
“Bobby” sounds like The Replacements if they’d had more Stooges in ’em than Big Star. Title track “Eviction Party” is the most fun anyone’s ever had singing about impending homelessness.
Elsewhere “S— Rat” comes dangerously close to Sunset Strip territory with echoes of Ratt in the opening salvo. Filth & Majesty take all their influences and inspirations — from ’70s stadium rockers to ’80s hair metal to ’90s punk revival — and turn them into something decidedly Midwestern and homegrown. “Do you wanna party? It’s party time.” Yes, the guys do want to party.
The band do nuance pretty well. “Dystopian Love Song” is the closest they come to a power ballad, though there’s plenty of chugging guitars and passion to go around. It helps that the band recorded at Chipped Tooth Audio, where Dan Kinnaley knows his way around a mixing board and mic placement. He brings a buzzing and raw live sound to the proceedings.
Eviction Party sees Filth & Majesty honing their buzzed delivery and call-and-response choruses to a fine sheen with big riffs, big vocals, and enough rock n’ roll to last you the rest of the summer. Filth & Majesty are here to rock, chew bubblegum, and kick ass. They’re all out of bubblegum.
