Everyone raise your hands if you have ever heard of these guys. Thought so. Neither had I until that day when I walked into a second-hand record store that were blasting the sound of Bad City and knocked me right off my rocker. Apparently they are five young guys from New Jersey that decided it was time for a new melodic hard rock band to rear its pretty face and give people a good dose of contagious melodies and catchy choruses that would make folks wanna grip a beer and do some serious rocking. There is nothing new here under the sun, but somewhere the guys have found their personal touch to their sound, even though this kind of music belongs to the late 80’s / early 90’s.
And 2010. Because this side of 2000 might just belong to bands such as Bad City. If so, it would be well deserved, because the songs on this album are great. At least, most of them. They never get worse than good. Opener ”Showdown In Central Park” is a heavy, but catchy groover, ”Take Me For A Ride”, their first single could be a hit with a little luck, it sure is catchy enough and ”Wildlife” is a fat, groovy rocker. But there’s more. ”Fire In The Pouring Rain” is a killer power ballad with ”hit” written all over it and ”Call Paul Stanley” might just be one the best song I have heard in a very long time. It’s catchy and it swings like crazy. Must be a single at some point. The same goes for ”Touch” which has a big chorus and big hit feel. The album ends in a glorious way with balls out rocker ”Straight To The Grave”. And after that you need to play the album over again. And again. And… well, you get my drift. If melodic hard rock is your bag, then this is one of those albums you could buy unheard. I will keep my fingers crossed for those guys to make it to mega stardom.
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Tracklist:
1. Showdown In Central Park
2. Take Me For A Ride
3. Do You Believe In Rock N Roll
4. Wildlife
5. Fire In The Pouring Rain
6. Call Paul Stanley
7. Heatwave
8. Look Out!
9. Touch
10. Straight To The Grave
CD & Festival reviews 