If you’re ever told that the sweat-and-leather-driven, electric guitar rock ’n’ roll is a thing of the past, “Residual Grimace” completely debunks that assertion. Material Girls’ new single starts off as a downtempo bar-stool swing, with a descending bassline, horn section and guitar line that Jack White undoubtedly wishes he wrote. After a couple of tension-oozing verses, the band erupts and you’re thrown into a chaotic sex storm fury and tossed back in a drag bar already three drinks deep. Sonically it’s as if Morphine recorded in the rehearsal space The Doors did L.A. Woman in… with a shirtless 1970’s Iggy Pop producing it. Atlanta’s finest up-and-coming rock sextet is a complete overhaul of rock ’n’ roll old and new, with a strong make-up game. It’d be easy to dismiss Material Girls as an all-looks glam-punk act, but their music seems to hold something a bit more substantial.
“Residual Grimace” is released ahead of their debut LP, Leather, out July 6th via Irrelevant Music and Exag Records.