ROSE TATTOO Assault and Battery CD (2017)

Before AC/DC crossed over, before hard rock became an export, Rose Tattoo were out here doing it louder and uglier than anyone thought an Australian band should. Angry Anderson and the boys were the pub rock scene's open wound, and Assault & Battery is the proof.

Originally dropped in 1981, this is the record that cemented Rose Tattoo as one of the most important hard rock bands to ever come out of Australia, full stop. Raw, bluesy, covered in tattoo ink and cigarette smoke. It sits comfortably next to the early AC/DC catalogue but with its own mean streak, the kind of album that sounds like it was recorded by people who genuinely didn't care if you liked it. Which is exactly why it holds up.

CD reissue, 2017. Full length album. Australian hard rock, born and bred.

Fans of: AC/DC, Buffalo, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs