Full Length Review: Ted Axe "Sex Horror Violence" (Elipse Records) by Dave Wolff

Artist: Ted Axe

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Country: Canada

Genre: Punk, rock

Full Length: Sex Horror Violence

Format: Digital album

Label: Elipse Records

Release date: January 1, 2019

As we know there’s always a band pooling the influences of their youth and delving into the time their favorites created something new when it was most needed. Ted Axe seems a contender in today’s saccharine pop with its overused millennial whoop. Since the days he blew off high school to see Alice Cooper’s “The Killer” tour, Ted Axe has had an unquenchable thirst for wanderlust and creativity that spills over into many different mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpting, and writing music. Channeling Cooper, Marc Bolan, David Johansen, David Bowie, and James Brown on his first solo effort after a decade of working with Sister Hyde, he finds a new outlet for his demons/angels he hopes will grow enough to make a lasting impression on classic and contemporary punk fans. I should also mention Guns N Roses since the vibe of “Sex Horror Violence” representing the seedy, unlovely underworlds of London, Los Angeles, and Seattle is quite similar to the attitude GNR brought to the 80s MTV generation. Instead of having moved to L.A. from a small town, however, Ted Axe writes and plays like he was spawned from beneath the dirty sidewalks of those cities, giving validation to the shady, unsung characters he introduces you to. This is no romantic depiction of the typical rock star dream, it’s a testimony to alcohol and drug abuse, toxic relationships, danger, violence, revenger, and who knows what else. It’s been long since I’ve heard the term “provocateur” applied to an artist, and as I listen to “Sex Horror Violence” I begin to realize there hasn’t been an artist deserving of such a title since Marilyn Manson happened upon the mainstream twenty five years ago. This album’s appeal lies in the duality between rawness and relatability, between reality and catharsis. This is not college-oriented pop-punk in any sense of the term; it shows life at its most brutal and unforgiving, leaving you with a sense of being unraveled from within by remorseless people who drain you of everything and move on without looking back. It hardens you in a way that slaughters all good intentions while hardening your heart in preparation for whatever comes your way next. If you’re looking for frank and honest, swagger-driven punk rock and roll without hubris, you should seek this album out. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Ted Axe: Vocals

Marcel “Marz” LaFluer: Lead guitar

Jules “Julio” Biafore: Rhythm guitar

Corrado Bartolo: Bass

Stefan Ford: Drums

Track list:

1. Get Out of Rehab

2. Death Us Do Apart

3. My Own Worst Nightmare

4. Nuthin at All

5. Sex Horror Violence

6. Femme Fatal

7. I Don't Want To

8. Hurt People

9. Heaven

10. Mother's Day

11. T.M.i.

12. Insatiable