Last Chance – Last Chance (digital)

 

Last Chance is a new US based hard rock band featuring singer Frankie Rage, guitarist Dave Baron, bass player Rob Phillips and drummer Jordan Cannata. 

“Light The Fire” kicks off the album in an 80-oozing sleaze-oriented vein, with an almost punky vibe to it, a bit like MC5 meets early Skid Row (the US band that is). Cannata is really driving the song with Frankie’s practically spitting out the words. “Sick Of It All” takes it in a totally different direction with a heavy funky, sort of Last Crack type vein, with a chorus that throws it all in a totally different direction almost going into Cheap Trick’s pop-melodic territory.  “Breakin’” continues even further into the funk territory. A strange and quirky song that made me think of Fishbone, with yet another Cheap Trick style pop chorus. Great funky slap bass playing from Rob. “Gotcha Back” offers yet another variation in style, more of a shuffle style mid-tempo rocker with a garage rock vibe to it. For some reason, the letters OMFUG appears before me (well, if you know you know). Cool shreddy solo from Dave, too! The musical schizophrenia continues when “Human Eyes” suddenly takes us into southern style pop/rock territory with singer Frankie adding his almost punkish vocal attitude to the mix. “Tattoo” takes us back to CBGBs garage rock vein and it reminds me a bit of a modern Tuff Darts (a band I really like). “Don’t Wanna Be Your Man” starts out a bit heavy but turns into an acoustic number which reminds med quite a lot of Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and here Frankie does sound a bit like Brett Michaels. “Tough Titty” is another piece of sleaze-oriented rock in the vein of heavier Poison or Faster Pussycat, while “Anything But That” is a semi-ballad, leaning more into the reign of southern rock but they do lose me in the chorus with the vocals following the guitar chords too closely. The album ends with another funk-oriented quirky thing entitled “Kamikaze” with a straight ahead almost punky chorus, and a shredding solo from Dave. In conclusion, I will admit this is not really up my alley and I do have a bit of a problem with the vocals which have a bit too much punk attitude for my taste, but the album does have some highlights.

/Janne Stark 

Year: 2022
Country: USA
Label: self-released

ELECTRIC GUITARS – String Fever (CD)

The phrase “Danish dynamite” has somehow mostly been connected to hard rockers Pretty Maids. I would however like to widen that epithet to also include this powerful foursome. String Fever is the second effort from the Danish rockers fronted by guitarists/singers Soren Andersen and Mika Vandborg. Both have released their own, outstanding solo albums, while Soren has also been part of Glenn Hughes band plus Kick The Kangaroo, Mike Tramp etc. The title track opens the album with a groovy Hendrixy melodic rocker mixing cool vintage guitar sounds, loose drums, working bass and cool sassy vocals, ending in a full-on guitar orgy. I really love the production, keeping it fresh but still honouring the late 60s/early 70s in its dynamics and style. White Flag opens with one of the coolest, funkiest riffs I’ve heard all year (2015, that is). Makes me think of a mix of Philip Sayce and Frank Marino with a touch of Lenny Kravitz in his rock mood. Killer track! F***ing LOVE that riff!! Running Out of Time continues the riff mania and keeps the heaviness pounding with its intense and cool rhythm work. Another heavy hitter that just completely knocked me out! Girlfriend hits some others strings, surprisingly poppy and more akin to 70s Cheap Trick (which I happen to like). Day Off continues in a swampy southern early ZZ Top meets Blackberry Smoke vein, while She Wants My Guitar (feat. Ida Corr) draws more towards AC/DC meets The Black Crows with the addition of the vintage talk box effect. A cool hit-oriented rocker! I like the way Electric Guitars blend rough, riffy vintage sounding bluesy rock with quite poppy melodies, without sounding cheesy. The guitar work is totally stunning and the vocal qualities fits the style just perfectly, not too nice, not too, dirty. A killer band and a killer album, indeed!

Janne Stark

Label: Target

Country: Denmark

Year: 2015

Video: https://youtu.be/s26ArfXwPGk

FEINTS - Feints (digital release)

Boston rocks! Yepp, Feints proves it! This Bostonian four-piece makes their debut with a digital release, which should be out on CD and even vinyl! The album kicks off with the rockin’ “Los Angeles At Last”. Powerhouse singer Amy Douglas who sounds like a mix between Mother’s Finest’s Baby Jean and Tina Turner on steroids fronts the band. She is definitely the perfect vocal match for the bands straight-in-your-face power rock. “Saturday” continues in a slightly Cheap Trick:ish vein. The band has its feet firmly rooted in the seventies, which is a quality mark in my book. “Invalid” continues in the Tricky vein, but Amy’s voice really takes the band to another place. Man, those vocal cords have got to be leather coated! The songs are really catchy and this should appeal to fans of anything from classic bands like Earthquake, The Faces or Cheap Trick to fans of The Hellacopters and the rocking side of Mother’s Finest or even vintage Pat Benatar. There are also more southern sounding stomping rock songs such as “Hudson Valley Stomp”, which reminded me a bit of The Black Crowes. “Death Rattle” takes it in a totally different direction, with its almost metal-punkish vibe. Cool track indeed, with Amy turning her lungs inside out! The band, featuring guitarist David Baron, bass player Rob Phillips and drummer Tim Marten are tight as a rat’s ass, and these boys really keep this train moving! Right after the death rattle the band lays down a beautiful ballad called “Little America” with Amy also showing her piano skills and David is throwing in some countryish guitar licks. Really nice.!The release also offers a free bonus track, which happens to be an outstanding cover of Thin Lizzy’s Fighting My Way Back. This is a highly enjoyable, unsitstillable, rockin’ tildawnable picke of digital media. Highly recommended!

Janne Stark

Year: 2015

Country: USA

Label: self-released

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8zkUo6tYE
Bancamp: https://feints1.bandcamp.com/album/feints

CAPTAIN BLACK BEARD – Before Plastic (CD)

I have bit of a hard time deciding what I really think of this album. On one hand it’s a bit too poppy and happy for what I’m mostly into. The opening track “Please Come Home” reminds me of Swedish colleagues The Gloria Story, but I do like the Black Beards better. The song does have some cool intricate moments in the mid section. I’ve however always had a problem with “wooohooohoohooh” singalong vocals. “Somebody” sounds a bit Cheap Trick, which is ok by me, but I think it’s the vocals that lack the attitude that lifts the song for me. It’s by no means bad, just a little too mainstream. “Bad Girl” however is a really nice classic AOR number with a killer chorus and a nice melodic guitar solo. Not sure if the band really needed the lead guitar help of Tommy Denander, Mats Karlsson (220 Volt) and Bruce Kulick, but it is of course some added value. “Music Man” is also a nice melodic hard rocker with a touch of Kiss. There are some tracks that really stick out for me, in a positive way. I really love the riffy, intense hard rocker “Shout”, the boogie-oriented “Life’s What You Make It” and “Takin’ You Out” that also has quite a Kiss sounding pre-verse riff. Despite some moments that are a bit too slick and poppy for yours truly, this album does have its bright moments.

Janne Stark

Year: 2014
Country: Sweden

Label: Dead End Exit

TONGUE – Look! It’s Rock ‘N Roll (CD)

Tongue is a new project formed by the masterminds of Ola Karlsson and Börje Reinholdsson, formerly of Balthazar’s Machine and X-Union. This is the guys' tribute to good old hard rock and their love for the seventies. “Find My Way Back Home” starts out with a great crunchy riff that promises really great stuff. The song itself however wanders off more to Cheap Trick’s power poppy hard rock, which is ok, but maybe not what I expected. “Hair Of The Dog” starts out with an equally interesting cool riff and a promising intro solo, and also becomes more of straight rock ‘n’ roller. In the song “The 70’s” the band sings praise to bands like Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy. But a chorus with “nananananana” in a pop vein... This is unfortunately, to me, more pop with some distorted guitars. Sorry boys, but you lost me there. “Sun” is a cool rocker with a touch of “Kashmir” and it’s definitely my favorite on the album together with the crunchy rocker “Back To Reality”. Unfortunately the chorus is also what brings it down for me, which is a pity. “The Music Takes Control” has a touch of Lenny Kravitz funky rock, while “Speak Louder” owes a bit to AC/DC. I’m afraid the title and the cool artwork promised a bit more than what the music delivered. There were some highlights, but too few and far between to save it for me.

Janne Stark

Country: Sweden

Year: 2014
label: Wobbling Wart