The Treatment

This Might Hurt

Written by: GR on 08/05/2011 19:34:30

Although classic hard rock my have had its heyday back in the 70s and 80s, with huge sales figures and packed-out stadiums achieved by some, it's a style that has never gone away. There seems to have been a resurgence of quality up-and-coming bands in the past few years and with Powerage Records (run by Classic Rock magazine) now leading the charge in the UK, we've been introduced to bands such as The Treatment. This bunch of whippersnappers formed a few years ago whilst most of the members were still in school and have taken a love for legends like Aerosmith, Led Zep and AC/DC and honed a hard rock sound of their own.

What we find on "This Might Hurt", then, isn't anything groundbreaking but a potent mix of a well-trodden genre with youthful enthusiasm and surprisingly matured song-writing sensibilities. Right from opener "Departed", The Treatment waste no time in grabbing the listener by the balls and dragging them along for a rather enjoyable rocking journey, complete with catchy riffs, memorable hooks and an impressive vocal performance from singer Matt Jones. A high-energy start it may be, but it's not all foot-to-the-floor material as the band show they can slow things down for melodic mid-paced numbers like "I Fear Nothing" and almost hit ballad territory with the chorus of "Nothing To Lose But Our Minds", bringing to mind Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes". Whilst the song-writing is consistently good across the whole album, it's the stomp of second-halfer "Shake The Mountain" that stands out as a particular highlight and surely provides The Treatment with a signature tune.

This is an album that fits in nicely with the Powerage roster and will certainly appeal to fans of their various label-mates as well as bands old and new such as The Answer, Tesla, Voodoo Six and Silvertide. Who it will definitely appeal to are fans of the now defunct Hurricane Party/Roadstar (changing their name after hurricane Katrina devestated New Orleans), as The Treatment sound pretty similar to that once-promising band. This similarity was one of the first things I noticed when discovering The Treatment - supporting Voodoo Six in London early last year - and was reinforced by them finishing their set with a HP/Roadstar song. This seemed strange at the time given none of the members looked old enough to have been in Roadstar, but it turns out The Treatment's manager (and father of drummer Dhani) was also the manager of, and co-songwriter for, Roadstar. To me this suggests a large helping hand in the forming of The Treatment's sound and the possible cynical view that this is 'Roadstar version 2'. But that would be to dismiss the hard work that I'm sure these five lads have put into "This Might Hurt" and quite frankly, with an album full of solid tunes such as these, it's best to let the music do the talking.

7

Download: Shake The Mountain, I Fear Nothing, Departed
For The Fans Of: Hurricane Party/Roadstar, Voodoo Six, Aerosmith
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 07.02.2011
Powerage Records

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