I don’t know what I was expecting from a band called The Trousers but it certainly wasn’t the high-octane brand of hard rock that poured from my speakers. Formed in Budapest in 2006, the past decade has found them busy honing a sound that fuses classic hard rock (The Stooges, Rolling Stones) with more contemporary influences (BRMC, The Hellacopters) and it’s all come together nicely on their seventh long player Necessary Evil. While The Trousers have created a buzz in their native Hungary, the ten tracks comprising this album look certain to place them front and centre on the global stage.

As opening tracks go, they don’t come much more vibrant than opening shot ‘ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT’. As the all-capitals title suggests, this is a balls-to-the-wall kind of introduction, a take-no-prisoners affair which arrives with all guitars blazing and drums firing and is guaranteed to get the follicles flying. It’s the perfect mission statement and finds the band planting their flag firmly in rock’s fertile soil. Hard, yet melodic, it makes a beeline for the memory bank and just one listen will have you humming its melody all day. The band definitely have the wind in their sails and it’s the same kind of amphetamine buzz that will power all of these tracks. However, Necessary Evil is a refreshingly old school album (rather than being a collection of singles) and after that windswept opener, The Trousers take their foot off the pedal (slightly) to deliver a more mean and moody number in the shape of ‘Restless In Peace’. That’s exactly how an album should flow and with no two songs inhabiting the same sonic space Necessary Evil never fails to keep the listener engaged.

While The Trousers have a modern edge, there’s also something familiar about the band, and if (like me) you grew up on a diet of 1970’s and 1980’s hard rock and metal, you’ll find a spiritual home within these grooves. Powered by plenty of slide guitar, the aforementioned ‘Restless In Peace’ brings to mind Rose Tattoo whilst the organ that washes over cuts such as ‘Second Hand Suicide’ and ‘LAURA PALMER’ recalls Jon Lord’s work with Deep Purple and Whitesnake. ‘CONDEMNED TO BE FREE’ is a slower number that acts as a foil to make the faster numbers that surround it all the more boisterous. The band I’d most closely align The Trousers with is AC/DC; just like the Australian crew, these four musicians from Hungary have a signature sound that is deceptively simple, and as such tracks such as ‘FACE FROM THE SUN’ never cease to amaze. Bringing the album to an acoustic conclusion, ‘DRIVE ME TO THE STARS’ suggests The Trousers’ journey has just begun.

Necessary Evil proves that when it comes to music, these guys wear the trousers.

• Necessary Evil is available now.
• Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
2. Restless In Peace
3. Second Hand Suicide
4. LAURA PALMER
5. CONDEMNED TO BE FREE
6. NECESSARY EVIL
7. FACE FROM THE SUN
8. FALL FROM THE PAIN
9. ON THE RIVER AGAIN
10. DRIVE ME TO THE STARS