Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

The Factory The Factory Review by Larry Toering On this self titled disc, The Factory’s sticker advertises no secret about their influences being the NY Dolls, Stones, Johnny Thunders and the Dead Boys. It's original punk rock and roll from 1986, featuring members of 9353, Pentagram and the Obsessed. However other influences highly detected are that of Poison, but perhaps the influence there is the other way around, not sure, but it's undeniably there. Devo is also felt at times. Overall, though, the originality shines through in their well delivered use of horns. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Self-Submission Things kick off with a real NY Dolls vibe, very reminiscent of “Trash” and the David Jo factor just can't be denied, but it's more attitude than anything else. There is more of a Johnny Thunders nasal sound, so it's well mixed in the vocal department. Working into some fine guitar spots, you just can't help but forget about the comparisons. For some reason the riff sounds a lot like Devo's “Uncontrollable Urge,” and the dirty vibe keeps it all together well rounded. This is a great opener.

Where The People All Come To A bit more chunk and groove gets things underway on this track, including horns. This is one of the more unique numbers on the disc. Great drums and overall arranging make it exciting and loose at the same time. There is also some fine guitar work.

Love You Forever This is where things get more diverse and even lean towards heavy metal. You can hear Poison style chorus factors and it does compliment. More fine guitar playing rounds it off nicely. A very good tune comes out of it with some nice vocal teasing.

Misfortunate Son A mellower vibe sets in here, but ironically this is very Johnny Thunders like. In fact, it’s very reminiscent somehow of "Chinese Rocks" and a few others. Once again, this featurs nice guitar work, and I love the tone. I also like the mention “chocolate city.” This is obviously about some dangers of an obvious substance, the references are just too clear.

True Romance This feels more metallically inclined, but the harmonica adds a good twist. There are more Poison style chorus factors and chunky guitar pieces. A great title and strong delivery help make this another one of the best overall tracks. It's simply likable in so many ways. This also has a Stones vibe to it.

Ecstasy There’s a nice melody throughout this track, and a tad bit of ska really spices it up. Another nod to Poison, by now one might wonder if it's intentional or just a freak coincidence. There is excellent use of guitar and horns here, and this is a great little number.

Girl That I Want Thrashing guitar leads into more horns, Saxophone in the Hanoi Rocks tradition is included. The glam factor is poured on here, but nothing is lost in the process. One can almost hear the Devo influence which the title does vaguely suggest, if in sort of a reverse or redirected way. There are more horns but not in an overbearing way.

Love To Dance This track has an interesting horn lead-in to change things up, while the guitar plays an almost funky disco sort of rhythm. A very fun track, this is worth at least a few minutes more. I could play this one over and over.

Puerto Rican Street Fight The only potential low point, if there really is one. I still love the NY Dolls style “woo-hoos,” as you can clearly hear homage to Johansen, Sylvain and Thunders in or out of the Dolls all in one. A lot of cleverness obviously went into this track.

Six Feet Down Just when things come to an end it cries for more. The Dead Boys seem to be the heaviest influence on this piece, which makes a great closer.

Return to the The Factory Artist Page

Artists Directory

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
© 2024 Music Street Journal Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com