Good Fight

This past fall Phoenix based rock quartet Scoti Slate released their full-length debut Good Fight courtesy of Brightlife Music. Led by vocalist Aaron Scoti and guitarist Lars Slate, the band started randomly when the pair got together while working with other groups, jammed, and decided they needed to collaborate. Scoti Slate has an accomplished sound, but their focus on themes of sex like a hormone-fueled middle schooler and uninspired lyrics make Good Fight something I would be embarrassed to listen to with my windows rolled down.

Things begin well enough on title track "Good Fight" with some funky guitar work, a high-pitched Prince moment (more on those later), and generic, but enjoyable lyrics. The enjoyment would soon come to an abrupt end. Songwriting seems incredibly lazy at best. One of many painful examples would be on the track "Do Ya" where prove my point is rhymed with elbow joint. In terms of subject matter the album is focused on all things juvenile including songs about a prostitute ("Sprockets"), a tune about a guy who only thinks with his penis ("Little Head Fred"), and a little ditty about a man who falls for a lesbian ("G.on.G"). The aforementioned "Sprockets" is actually the first single from the album and I can't imagine why. The track is harder than everything else on the album featuring Scoti doing his best Rob Zombie imitation with some explicit lyrics to boot.

At least four songs on the record have moments of Scoti channeling Prince with high-pitched nonsense. The first time it was bearable ("Good Fight"), but the Prince skits soon become downright annoying and don't seem to fit with any of the songs. I had high hopes for the last track - a cover of Golden Earring's 1982 classic "Twilight Zone." Unfortunately, I had my hopes set far too high. Part of the reason I love the original so much is the slow build to the chorus and the beat that fits perfectly in time with the lyrics. Scoti Slate throws all of that out the window and regurgitates the lyrics at three times the normal speed making it unlistenable to the majority of classic rock fans. I wish I could recommend Good Fight for being different compared to the majority of rock bands today with their screaming lyrics, but I cannot on good faith wish this music upon anyone. Skippable.