Rooster seem
like a band predestined for chart success. They’ve
come along at just that right time, when rock is
back, but bands like Jet – who mine similar ground – are
away recording their follow-up album to their debuts.
Of course, Rooster is even
more commercial and polished than Jet’s Get Born – whilst
the riffs are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, vocalist
Nick Atkinson makes the choruses sound more like the sort
of power rock anthems that Bon Jovi might have come
up with at their peak.
Like the long-forgotten Reef, you get the impression
that Rooster might be the sort of band who make a
big splash with their debut, before retreating into
their shells. Alternatively, they could go the Bush
route and sell their very American-sounding British
selves to the Yanks. Hey, it worked for the Beatles
and other British Invasion artists, so why not Rooster?
Well, they’re not very good, so that might count
against them. Hopefully. Because the world doesn’t
need artists like Rooster – there’s simply nothing
artistic about them. Instead, they come across much
as Busted did; where that act sold bubblegum pop-punk
to Brit (pre-)teens in the same way as Sum 41 had
the year before, Rooster are a major label’s 2005
investment in big-selling, dumb and meaningless rock ‘n
roll.