A lot of supergroups aren’t necessarily supergroups to everyone who comes across them. Sure, there are the “big” ones like Audioslave and the shittacular Chickenfoot, but it is usually the smaller ones that small scenes know about that succeed and release worthwhile efforts. Spinnerette are kind of in the middle in terms of people who actually know who they are, but their debut full-length is much more akin to the ‘smaller ones’ I mentioned in my last sentence.
As for why Spinnerette can be considered a supergroup? Well, they are fronted by the awesomely punk and hot Brody Dalle, and she is accompanied by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven) on Guitar/Bass, Tony Bevilacqua (who, like Dalle, is formerly of The Distillers), and ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers/Pearl Jam/Eleven drummer Jack Irons. Wow this paragraph has a lot of bolding.
What makes their self-titled debut so great is that the sound they have achieved is the perfect mix of their previous/other outfits. Spinnerette is the grooviness of Queens of the Stone Age mixed with the angst-ridden tendencies of The Distillers topped with the grace of Eleven. Ultimately, you can tell that Brody’s hubby Josh Homme (the mastermind behind Queens of the Stone Age) has had an effect on her singing and writing. The riffs are dirty, the basslines are distorted, the drums make you long for more, and Dalle sounds like a perfect female counterpart of her husband. Let’s face it, it’s Queens with a female singer – and Queens being the best rock band in the world means good things.
After saying all that, it is ironic that the album starts out with it’s weakest tracks. “Ghetto Love” is a decent dance number, but you can tell that it was written before a lot of the other material (it was on their “Ghetto Love EP” from last year). The only other leftover from their EP is “Distorting A Code”, which unlike the first track, is pretty damn wicked. The rest of the album is filled with near-perfect rock tracks. It is safe to say that if anything ever happened to Queens (god forbid), that Spinnerette would be there to take the crown as the most groovy, grimy, and great rock band around. Brody and Josh marrying is the greatest thing that could have happened to today’s rock n roll scene.
edit: Just wanted to say that “The Walking Dead” is the best rock song of the year so far.
(7.9/10)
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