Sometimes being exceptionally original or varying things a lot from song to song isn’t extremely important. In the world of straight ahead rock and roll, just playing a killer riff driven groove is often enough. Such is the case with this album. These guys have a classic sound that’s closely related to a lot of bands without really copying any of them. In addition, while the general sound doesn’t vary a lot from song to song, these guys create music that has enough style and flavor that it keeps it interesting throughout the disc. They are currently on tour with Kiss and Motley Crue and it really seems a great fit. Since they are first on the bill, get there early to check these guys out - you'll be disappointed if you miss even part of their show. 

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Here’s a high energy raw rocker that’s got a lot of modern sound mixed in with retro styles. It’s kind of like Buck Cherry meets Kiss.

While the overall musical motif here isn’t much changed, this is quite tasty and just plain rocks.

There’s no reinvention of the wheel here, but this is another smoking hot rocker.

The riff that opens this is classic. The song is a little mellower than the earlier tunes, but not a huge change from the rest. There’s some especially tasty guitar riffing on this thing.

With a main riff that feels like Motorhead, the vocals here are screamed. It’s a hot tune with tons of energy.

The verses aren’t a huge change on this tune, but the chorus is especially mainstream and catchy. In fact, it bears some resemblance in terms of arrangement on the choruses to something like “God Gave Rock and Roll To You” by Argent, but the chorus hook bears a striking resemblance to Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes.” Either way, this is a cool cut.

This is another screamer that has a lot in common with Buck Cherry and other raw roots based hard rockers.

There’s a smoking hot riff driving this and it’s got one of the most melodic choruses of the whole album. This thing just oozes cool.

Here’s another with a great classic rock riff driving it. This one has equal parts classic rock and modern hard-edged jamming. There’s plenty of melodic element in place here.

I really love some of the guitar soloing that goes on in this tune. It’s certainly got a lot of heavy metal in the arrangement. In fact, this is a real screamer, but manages to do it without losing the melody.

The opening to this makes me think of Kiss’ “Makin’ Love,” but that’s just a starting point. There’s a lot more metal here and this thing just screams. That said, the guitar solo calls to mind that Kiss song a bit, too.

It seems that the opening section here might be what it would sound like if Kiss and Motorhead jammed together. That same harder edged Kiss sound, like “Makin’ Love” is on display here. It’s another screamer, that much is for certain. We do get some melodic guitar soloing on the track.

While there are no big surprises in this tune (the first of two bonus tracks), it’s another smoking hot example of these guys’ blending of classic and modern hard rock sounds.

In this acoustic telling of the opening number it really feels like something from one of the 1980s metal bands. It’s a nice touch and really takes on a whole different vibe here. It’s a great way to end things in style. In some ways, this might be the best track of the whole set. It’s got an almost progressive rock arrangement and is certainly the most “different” number of the disc.