The final single before the release of the original Alice Cooper Group’s comeback record is out and it’s every bit as rocking, raspy and campy as anything else the band has put out. The new song “Up All Night” sees Alice Cooper touching on a topic more classic hard rock than anything else in the world; a late night tryst with a woman of questionable morals. A picture is painted for us of this salacious encounter over killer riffs and a guitar tone and drum pattern which is very reminiscent of AC/DC in their prime. 

But more interesting than the instrumental palette of the song is its ability to laugh at itself. Most of the track is delivered with a tongue-and-cheek flair, which is uncommon for a legacy act’s comeback. We see Alice painting himself with some strange characterizations, such as in the first lyric of the song where he describes his emotional state as “relatively fine” a strangely blase descriptor for a song which is clearly trying so hard to conjure such ferocity. Further into the track, he describes himself as an overnight sensation which seems to point to the randomness and blind luck of fame, especially when you realize that he has to go out of his way to make this fact known to the woman he is sleeping with. However, it is the chorus which brings us the song’s funniest moment, Alice’s assurance that he can “keep it up all night” a winking double entendre which reads as a nod to his age and the relative absurdity latent in a 77 year old writing a song about casual sex. 

This seeming knowledge of self comes as something of a relief after the relative headscratcher of the previous single “Wild Ones” which saw this group of reunited 70-somethings casting themselves as rebellious outlaws, raising hell and escaping the law. A mismatch with their life circumstances which felt unintentional and oblivious but the obvious camp of this song lends hope that this comeback album will not be yet another sad attempt at an artist clinging to their youth but instead a refreshing exploration of aging as a rockstar and ripping riffy hard rock. We’ll all get to find out together on July 25th when The Revenge of Alice Cooper finally meets our eagerly awaiting ears.

In the meantime, check out the new single here: