Hood Rats
Cold As Ice
High Noise Records
Released: February 22, 2025
Montreal’s Hood Rats drop a new EP named Cold As Ice
Montreal’s Hood Rats are back with a new release named Cold As Ice. It isn’t every day that I get to review a vinyl release – although I can assure you, dear reader, that I wish this was the case more often. (Am I dropping hints, here? You be the judge, bub!)
This new release comes roughly ten months after the release of their most recent full-length album, Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information, and there’s a good reason for that. Since the release of the aforementioned full-length album, the Hood Rats have undergone a line-up change that brings back the two original members that together with head-honcho Tony Salador (Tainted Youth, The Blood), formed the groups initial roster.
Back then, Salador played drums and sang, before switching the skins in for the guitar where he has been rocking ever since. That hasn’t changed. Drummer Guillaume Tremblay remains behind the kit, while J-F Simonneau (Offside) returns on bass and Troy Lockard (Vulgar Deli) returns on the guitar – and the Hood Rats will now continue as a four-piece for the first time, and that’s a good thing. That means dual guitars, and both guys can rip riffs!
See Also: Kerry King at L’Olympia, Montreal
This three song 7″ shows a more raw side to the Hood Rats than what is found on their Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information LP. A more gritty and rough recording that is still everything that made previous works great. Massive amounts of groove, filthy riffs and all the punk rock grime that could be squeezed into such a small amount of time. These three tunes are as infections as that weird virus thing that was going around for a while a few years back, you know the one I’m talking about. The bastard that they used to shut down the city over a couple times.
While this release serves as a sort of stop gap, or a taste of things to come as the reunited line-up gets busy gearing up for whatever new music the band collectively conjures up in the future, it is also a fun, quick blast of fresh Hood Rats tunes. The recording has a very garage aesthetic to it – raw, like a pre-production set of lost tunes, found years after the world has ended.
Title track Cold As Ice is a hard hitting slab of punk rock with a heavy rock n’ roll undertow flowing throughout it. It has that trademarked bellowed chorus that everyone can get behind and shout back at the band. The sort of thing found on the better songs off of their Crime, Hysteria & Useless Information LP.
On the b-side, are Sleeping In The Street and Off Drugs And Miserable. I wonder if these three tracks are older tracks that were recorded before the departure of the now returned members (that’s a hell of a sentence, innit!) Salador’s vocals are a lot more gruff here, and that sort of lends a more gutter punk feel to the whole package. Sort of how those early black metal records were recorded in a Norwegian woods somewhere, with a ghetto blaster and a cassette tape – this sounds like it was recorded at the old Deathouse (those that know, know) after a serious night of boozing. Maximum rock n’ fuckin’ role!
The only real down side is how quickly the whole thing passes by.
Read More:
>> Hood Rats at Recyborg, Montreal
>> Hood Rats “2022 Demo Tracks” Review
>> Tony Salador of Hood Rats
Cold As Ice is an extremely limited pressing that will be available at a launch party tonight at Barfly, where the Hood Rats will be playing with Positive I.D. (who are also dropping their new record at the show too) and Cornette.
Tickets are limited, as are copies of both albums dropping at the show.
For Fans Of : Motorhead, Amebix, Nashville Pussy
Track Listing:
01. Cold As Ice
02. Sleeping In The Street
03. Off Drugs And Miserable
