With an album as good as this behind them, hopefully it's only a matter of time before they are tearing up stages here in the UK.

Making their live debut some five years ago (at The Roxy on Sunset Strip, no less), 9Electric have finally teamed up with Another Century and producer Kane Churko (who co-produced with Micah Electric, the band's drummer and "programmer") to tell the tales of 'The Damaged Ones'. Considering bands these days often feel the need to let everyone hear their first recording sessions, the patience shown by 9Electric is admirable and well placed. Not only have they slowly built up a solid fan base for their Electro-Rock 'n' Roll, but they've also honed a sound, that while hardly revolutionary, is varied enough to stand out.

If you could fuse Rob Zombie to The 69 Eyes, meld some Stabbing Westward in there and then superglue a modernised Mötley Crüe attitude on top, then factor in that the electronics and programming lends a Poppy, commercial side (hell... the powering, yet jumping beat of 'Take It Away' reminds me of JD Fortune era INXS!) and 9Electric are tough to resist. The cleverest thing this band do is wrap up their catchy memorable fare in thick wallops of guitar and then allow the razor sharp seductively kiss-me-kill-me vocals of (silly name alert) Thunderwood to suck you in further.

'New God' and the album's title cut make for a great introduction; the combination of clanging beats, strafing guitars and sweet melodies, daring and different, before the thump and clunk of the Zombie-esque 'Naked' happily strips you of your senses. The pure energy, and almost Dance beat of 'Lies', especially when allied to an unforgettable chorus that reminds me (rather oddly, but most pleasingly) of Ratt, genuinely suggests there's also massive crossover appeal.

The many reviews littering the internet leave little doubt that 9Electric are the live force that five years spent sharpening their glistening hooks suggest they should be. With an album as good as this behind them, hopefully it's only a matter of time before they are tearing up stages here in the UK. If they are, you do not want to miss them, and nor do you want to miss out on 'The Damaged Ones'.

Steven Reid