Bite Your Tongue

Take the lyrical preoccupations of the Scissor Sisters, the overall glam rock homage sound of the Darkness (minus the singer's castrato wail), the Queers' devotion to punkily melodic hooks, and the sort of insouciant cock-of-the-walk attitude that was last seen in Marc Bolan's heyday, and what you'll end up with is fairly close to the Sex Slaves. The glam-punk New York City trio are unapologetically salacious -- the best song on the album is called "See You Naked" -- but their main interest is in the rock rather than the shock. It's instructive to note that the sole cover on the album is the Stooges' "Search and Destroy," and while obviously this version isn't a patch on the original, its inclusion reveals that the Sex Slaves come closer than most Iggy Pop fetishists to understanding the root of the great man's appeal: the most interesting moments aren't when everything is falling apart, they're when everything is just about to fall apart. The Sex Slaves stay on the right side of that point for nearly the entirety of Bite Your Tongue, and the results are good dirty fun. ~ Stewart Mason