When I first opened the package I received from the four-man band from North Carolina who call themselves SPANK, I didn’t put too much faith in what I was about to hear. I mean… come on, SPANK!?! That’s about as thought-provoking a name as SLUNT or TOASTED! Then after listening to the first two tracks, “Turkey Leg” and “Gravity,” I was beginning to get the feeling my opening assumptions were correct. It’s not that they’re “horrible” songs by any means… just nothing special that a thousand other rock bands out there are doing.

Then I came to track 3, “Back To Me.” Where the Hell did this come from!?! It’s almost like I was listening to an entirely different band! This bright, melodic arrangement really peaked my interest with it’s toe-tapping melody and solid, harmonic chorus which reminds me a lot of that late 70’s/ early 80’s hard rock sound or a band like the STAGE DOLLS. Very cool track with an extremely nice electric guitar break leading into a soft, acoustic fade out.

As I continued to listen, the string of complimentary songs continued on with the exceptional power-ballad “Breathing.” Some more impressive guitar riffs and fills really launch this track to an even higher level making this one of my favorite tracks on the release.

Up next, “Terrified” switches gears back to that harder, edgier sound but another nice, up-beat rocker with some full vocal harmonies in the chorus. Not to be out done, “In Time” continues on in this vein and again, has a bit of that STAGE DOLLS feel to it with its strong, melodic chorus and layers of fluid vocals.

“Space” was a little weird for me. It starts off with that howling, echoey sound effect… not unlike that of the intro to DEF LEPPARD’s “Too Late For Love” and then rolls into a heavy guitar driven track which reverts back to the feeling I had about the first two tracks. It’s good, but just not good enough. The same can be said about “Grounded.” This song really left me flat and definitely falls into the “filler” category.

No, no, no… come on guys! You had me there for a while now what’s going on?

Now “Hard To Understand,” on the other hand, is another brilliant power ballad which has it all! A great, great arrangement, some fantastic guitar rhythms and layers and layers of harmonies that really impress… very well done all around. But then there’s the CD ender “Step Out Of Line”… a high-powered, up-tempo track that’s just “ok.”

As a whole, “Get Bent” by SPANK seems to fall into that “hit or miss” category for me. None of it is “bad” per say, just average at best but when these guys are on, they’re REALLY on and tunes like “Breathing,” “Terrified,” “Back To Me,” “Hard To Understand” and “In Time” definitely make these guys worth a listen.