Album review: Silly Goose – Keys To The City

Twenty-five years since the height of nu-metal, the revival is going full steam. Aficionados old enough to remember the genre’s heyday will know that there’s something missing, mind: the steroidal machismo, Jackass-devouring stupidity and sheer censor-baiting outrageousness that made the likes of Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Bloodhound Gang the guilty pleasures of a whole jilted generation.

It’s free real estate for Silly Goose. Simultaneously co-opting the maximalist bombast of those acts, while skewering their more cringeworthy tendencies, full-throttle second album Keys To The City sees the Atlanta crew unleashing an unapologetic balls-out swagger.

Tasty riffs are in plentiful supply. The spring-loaded attack of a song like Neighbours, for instance, manages to evoke both Alien Ant Farm and peak P.O.D., while Now Dance offers a little of the rawness of Kittie, and Split hints at Mudvayne at their most anthemic. Intros and interludes featuring cowboys and dinosaurs hark back to the wackiest moments from Chocolate Starfish and Hooray For Boobies. The title-track, meanwhile sees vocalist Jackson Foster, guitarist Ian Binion and drummer Alan Benikhis unashamedly channelling Fred Durst, Wes Borland and John Otto – with a fair bit of DJ Lethal chucked in for good measure.

Having their cake and eating it, there is a coherent vision about Keys To The City that seems unlikely given its often ridiculous, always unsubtle makeup. Some of its biggest moments, like the free-flowing Traffic and the faintly proggy Playing Games, are more about real emotions than tongues pressed into cheeks. At times it feels like they're walking that middle-line between outright parody and straight-faced tribute, but Silly Goose are also celebratory – and good – enough to come out of it all with tip-frosted heads held high.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Limp Bizkit, Hollywood Undead, Crazy Town

Keys To The City is out now via Blue Grape Music