Tilts

Somewhere between the lowdown throb of Queens of the Stone Age and the full-on rawk and roll of Tight Bro’s From Way Back When is Tilts. Simply put, this St. Louis four-piece will melt your face clean off your skull. The songs on Tilts’ self-titled debut were culled from a handful of EPs released over the past two years and mixed especially for vinyl. The results are bombastic and unrelenting, drilled home by a rhythm section with the musculature of a lioness (the band also features guitarist Andrew Elstner from anthemic metalists Torche). It doesn’t take long to figure out that these guys eat, sleep and breathe classic rock—from garage to arena—and they do it all with a knowing smirk. “Hot For Pizza” has more in common with Van Halen than just the title, while “Mexiqo” will immediately hook you in, and is a classic in its own right. Thing is, these songs already sound like classics. Tilts has, for the most part, fallen on deaf ears—absolutely criminal considering this might be the best rock release of 2012. Eat it. Sleep it. Breathe it.