Saturday Overdose-Eat My Dust!

Street Symphonies Records
2013

Saturday Overdose? What's that?  Apparently it's supposed to represents this Italian band's"'80s-inspired, 'party-loving' sound". Well there you have it and now you know. And of course, knowing is half the battle right? Alright, what else have we got with this 5-track EP? Well, first up I do have to admit that I was not aware that this was only an EP when I first picked it up and gave it a spin in my car stereo. As I had not looked at the booklet/promo-sheet that came with "Eat My Dust!" my initial reaction proved to rather "funny". Here's the deal. Of the 5 tracks here 2 of them, "Don't Care About The Rain" and "Anthem For A Dream", are ballads! As the EP went rocker, ballad, rocker, ballad and then (finally) rocker I was all set to dismiss whoever the idiot was that choose the album's track listing. As the EP stopped after the (very cool, old-school 80's heavy metal meets modern hard rock and, after a case of beer or two, they both throw some fists in the air to the "Gods of thunder and rock and roll") "Fucking Mustang" it finally dawned on me that this was only an EP and man, did I ever feel like one big a freakin' moron! Eh, it is what it is (or was what it was?) so what was my final verdict on this 5-track EP and Saturday Overdose? Well, the band, which was formed in 2007 when the members were still in school and was known initially as just "Overdose" (under which name they played covers at school parties from 2007 until 2008 when they split-up), do (admittedly) work wonders with both their heavy numbers ("Free Bones" and "Fallin' Apart" being the other two rockers here) and the aforementioned ballads. Or at least ballad number two, "Anthem For. Dream". This ballad finds Saturday Overdose retracing the same route that was once taken by Guns 'n Roses while also inhaling the smoke-filled remains of many past 70's hard rock and rollers. This ballad does work. Sadly the same cannot be said of "Don't Care About The Rain". If you have ever laid awake at night wondering what bands like Poison and Skid Row would sound like if Oasis was their chief influence then now is your chance! Don't say I didn't warn you though. Alright, one clunker out of five is not bad I'll admit. And the band, having reformed in 2009 (and also packing one additional demo to their name), are clearly onto something with their other cuts. Partly influenced by the 70's hard rock scene and also clearly indebted to 80's hard rock bands like Skid Row, Saturday Overdose are modern hard rock without a lot of the normal nonsense that's involved with said bands these days. This EP might not translate into a must-buy, but it's a solid enough release and a good start for this Italian act.