On the Skids

With their long-awaited debut album, Oakland’s Lecherous Gaze deliver 11 deep cuts of sleazy, raw-powered punk ‘n’ roll. Three years in the making, On the Skids is an evolution of Annihilation Time—a hardcore/hard rock band that self-detonated in 2009. “Lyin’ in the Road” opens with guitarist Graham Clise (who also plays with J Mascis in the bands Witch and Sweet Apple) unleashing steroidal riffs from a clear Lucite guitar plugged into a giant wall of vintage amps to sound like the illegitimate son of Mahogany Rush's Frank Marino. Over a bludgeoning rhythm section, the band’s stage-prowling frontman, Zaryan Zaidi, sneers with a sinister hiss, sounding like he’s simultaneously channeling a young Iggy Pop and The Gravedigger V’s Leighton Koizumi. The volcanic “Scorpion” erupts like The MC5 pumped through the feral attack of Keith Morris–era Black Flag. But it’s the standout jam “Bagagazo” that blends the band’s love for Chuck Berry, Robin Trower, and The Damned into a bubbling concoction of anthemic originality. Spewed over the Hessian stomp of “Born on a River,” Zaidi’s lyrics are frighteningly convincing.