Between 1987 and 1992, Faster Pussycat released a trio of major label albums that gained them a lot of very positive press. Between the trash-glam aesthetic of tracks like ‘Bathroom Wall’ and ‘Smash Alley’, the retro Stones-ish love of ‘House of Pain’ and hard funk of ‘Madam Ruby’s Love Boutique’, the band displayed a broad range of talents and influences, often only linked via Taime Downe’s distinctively scratchy vocal.
Tag Archives: rock
THE MORNING LINE – Scene
The Morning Line’s 2019 LP, ‘North’, was an absolutely terrific album. Reawakening the sounds of ‘Girlfriend’ era Matthew Sweet, Soul Asylum’s best major label recordings and even a the productions of Sean Slade & Paul Q. Kolderie, it felt like a musical love letter to the 1990s. Retro, yet still somehow fresh, it’s melodic and jangly songs really captured the best of the band’s obvious talents.
Three years on, their first release for Justine Couvault’s Red On Red Records is another musical treat. A seven song collection, ‘Scene’ taps into the “mini album” format – something that seems to have been overlooked since the early 90s – which means there’s far less opportunity for the listener’s attention to wander, but still enough scope for a little variety along the way.
AUTOGRAPH – Beyond
Autograph will be well known to a lot of melodic rock and metal fans for their 80s albums ‘Sign In Please’ and ‘Loud & Clear’. Their single ‘Turn Up The Radio’ was a moderate hit in the US, appearing on MTV and hitting the Billboard Hot 100, which very much helped them have their fifteen minutes of hard rock fame on home turf. Despite not having the same levels of worldwide success as other big haired rockers, the Autograph name has always seemed to hold a fair amount clout, especially retrospectively.
THE VICE RAGS – Midnight Ride EP
The Vice Rags’ 2017 EP, ‘Hope The Neighbours Are Lookin’’, was a wonderfully raucous affair. Its five songs drew from a few classic styles, taking in some full throttle garage rock (‘Shut Up & Love Me’), overdriven rock ‘n’ roll (‘Out On The Street’), and even massive love for The Replacements (‘One Heart’), each track cutting loose in a superbly trashy style. Their self-penned material showed a lot of spark, but it was a supercharged garage punk rendition of Little Richard’s ‘Lucille’ that suggested that this was a band who’d be able to go all out on their follow up release.
ABOUT US – About Us
Hailing from India, About Us play a variety of rock styles, but often centre their songs around hard edged melodic rock with proggy flourishes. Despite their desire to give AOR a kick, the proggy moments won’t be enough to win over the average prog fan, and might be a little distracting for the melodic rock purist. However, if you’re able to get your head around their sometimes very busy and occasionally quirky sound, their debut album presents some very strong melodies and great songs.