A truly defining artist in the Rock pantheon, Alice Cooper changed the way that rock music sounded and looked – forever – and sold over 50 million albums along the way. His incredible career – both with the original band and as a solo artist – has seen him pushing the boundaries of what is possible, both with the music and also the truly legendary live shows. He drew together music, art and theatre and created something unique and timeless. A seminal force within the rock world, Alice Cooper is a pioneer, an icon, a profound influence on everything that followed in his wake, but first and foremost an entertainer.
Each book will be individually signed, and “Starring Alice Cooper” will come in two major editions, including a huge, very limited, A3 version complete with 3D lenticular and some surprising treasures. The book boasts many rare photos and pictures of personal items throughout, and is full of incredible personal content and surprises.
As well as the superb photography, “Starring Alice Cooper” features essays on his career from several renowned writers, including former Creem Magazine editor Jaan Uhelszki, Rock et Folk’s Jerome Soligny, Katherine Turman (co-author of “Louder Than Hell”), and an exclusive introduction penned by acclaimed author and longtime Alice fan Neil Gaiman.
A truly defining artist in the Rock pantheon, Alice Cooper changed the way that rock music sounded and looked – forever – and sold over 50 million albums along the way. His incredible career – both with the original band and as a solo artist – has seen him pushing the boundaries of what is possible, both with the music and also the truly legendary live shows. He drew together music, art and theatre and created something unique and timeless. A seminal force within the rock world, Alice Cooper is a pioneer, an icon, a profound influence on everything that followed in his wake, but first and foremost an entertainer.
With a catalogue that spans seven (!) decades, Alice Cooper’s timeless calling cards include the albums that catapulted him to superstardom with the original Alice Cooper group, like ‘School’s Out’ and ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ in the early 70s. And then, going solo, an artist that constantly evolved, creating ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ in 1975, his first record as a solo artist, the path on which he has continued to this day, including his 1989 smash hit album ‘Trash’ – featuring the mega-hit ‘Poison.’ Alice Cooper has continued to redefine the world in which he operates. 2023 saw him return to the album charts with ‘Road,’ repeating the 2021 success of the ‘Detroit Stories’ album as well as 2017’s ‘Paranormal.’
While creating a visual and sonic template that immediately and permanently sets him apart from his peers, the ever-changing Alice Cooper defies definition. “Starring Alice Cooper” celebrates a talent, and a life, of a true one-of-a kind icon.
Album number 740 from Mr. Cooper kicks off in style with ‘I’m Alice’ and the first single lifted from the album. To be fair to Alice, he’s reinvented himself throughout his career with a shift to the left and a shuffle to the right but at the core, he’s always been a rock n rolla. His dalliance with sleazy glam rock in the 80s brought him back to the masses but the music didn’t hit the heights of his 70s pomp when he released the classic albums tinged with glam and garage rock namely Killers and Schools Out culminating in the classic welcome to my nightmare.
To be fair to the Coop he’s always pumped out albums every couple of years at least and over the last decade or so he took an introspective glance and returned to his garage roots churning out some very impressive albums.
Seemingly always on the road, it makes sense to get an album called The Road featuring his trusty band. Whilst this might not be as loyal to those garage roots and a heavier harder rockin’ record it has moments of pure Alice Cooper joy as well as the huge vaudeville moments. Also ends with a fairly decent take on the classic magic bus.
‘I’m Alice’ begins with the harmonising guitars before Alice croons in. Delivering a really good vocal for a solid opener. But these days it takes a while to get comfortable when playing albums from top to bottom. With a cheeky wink ‘I’m Alice’ sets the scene with the gang harmonised vocals and spoke verses it’s a bit of Alice from across the decades.
‘Welcome To The Show’ begins with the guitars during it out before the rhythm section puts the pedal to the metal and races off. Good energy and one no doubt aimed at the live setting.
‘All Over The World’ has a cool swaggering intro and some good harmonies setting the tone as Alice leads the band through the best song of the opening trio. Seemingly content with where he’s at these days Alice stays within his comfort zone and the horn stabs add a different variety to the harder rock edges it’s much better than the hard rock workout that is ‘Dead Done Dance’. The Zac Wyldd tone doesn’t help.
‘Go Away’ sets off at a rapid pace and Alice noticeably sings really well. The slide guitar work works really well here. When Alice does heavy I can take it or leave it usually but at times it works really well. ‘White Line Frankenstein’ again messes with his tried and trusted touring lyrics and horror fascination all in one tune. The riff is loud n dirty and works well. Good song.
‘Big Boots’ with the added piano chops and funky bass line is where the album gets going. Alice playing some old-school garage rock ‘n’n roll is where he excels for me this past few years. The vocal delivery is spot on and his storytelling qualities step to the fore. The highlight so far no question.
‘Rules Of The Road’ is yet more shuffle in a shit house garage rock n roll where Alice borrows the DNA of milk and alcohol and rocks it up with some pretty sweet guitar noodling to please the guitar fans out there. Reminds me a bit of hanoi rocks on their CBS ‘Two Steps’ album the DNA thread is also in there folks trust me.
‘The Big Goodbye’ is another of the heavy tracks on offer but has a decent melody and the chorus is really good. With thirteen tracks on offer even if one is a cover albeit a decent take on a classic, Cooper’s creative juices continue to flow and all power to him for that. ‘Road Rats Forever’ harks back to his 70s prime and is another of the album’s best moments as he looks in the rearview mirror but with a modern twist.
If your wondering where the Alice Cooper power ballad might be on this record then you win no prize for looking through the song titles and picking out ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ and to be fair this one is pretty decent with a great vocal and I like the acoustic strum with the rhythm section kicking back. One of his better power ballads to be fair.
As we head for the final destination we have one pre-pit stop workout in the shape of ‘100 More Miles’ and Alice gets all creepy crawly for his Tom Waits intro and rock out mixing classic 70s Coop into the 21st century before kicking out the jams with a trip home on ‘The Magic Bus’ as he pays tribute to one of his favourite bands and prob fav tune. All in all a decent album. with some really good songs for Alice Cooper as he goes from tour to album to tour to album and shows no sign of slowing down and all power to him I hope there’s plenty more in the tank he puts bands half his age to shame with his work rate and quality. Long live the Coop and all who ride with him.
After thousands upon thousands of gigs and easily a million miles traveled, iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® Inductee Alice Cooper revs up as loudly as ever on his new solo album ‘Road’.
‘I’m Alice’, the opener and first single from Alice Cooper’s new studio album, sets the tone for the album with its driving drumbeat as guitars wail in the distance. Alice’s instantly recognizable rasp takes hold, “I know you’re looking for a real good time.
Produced by longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, the album is written, composed and recorded with his current touring band. Bringing everything full circle, it channels the spirit of old school Alice with instantly recognizable grit and plenty of gusto. It’s everything you’d hope for from him and more. And this time his trusted longtime bandmates— Ryan Roxie [guitar], Chuck Garric [bass], Tommy Henrikson [guitar], Glen Sobel [drums], and Nita Strauss [guitar]—are riding shotgun.
Complementing the album’s theme, the bonus DVD/Blu-ray comes with Alice Cooper’s 2022 full live show at Hellfest 2022 and includes all the classics and rarely played gems. Follow the latest news on ALICE COOPER and ‘Road’ –
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to present ‘Perfectly Imperfect’, the new solo album by Chip Z’Nuff, who is best known for being one of the founding members of the popular Chicago-based rock band Enuff Z’Nuff. A first single and video from the record entitled ‘Heaven In A Bottle’ is out today, with the album out on 18th March.
‘Heaven In A Bottle’ is co-written by former Enuff Z’Nuff vocalist Donnie Vie, but all other songs on ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ are written by Chip, with the exception of a cover version of Honaloochie Boogie’ by Mott The Hoople. The album includes guest appearances from Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Steven Adler (Adler’s Appetite, ex-Guns ‘N Roses), Daxx Nielsen (Cheap Trick) and Daniel Hill (Enuff Z’Nuff).
“All the songs have been written as I see the world through my rose-coloured glasses. It’s my heroin letter to the new generation,” states Chip.
Chip Z’Nuff is an American singer, songwriter, bassist, producer and radio personality. He founded the popular glam rock band Enuff Z’Nuff in 1984, with their self-titled debut album issued in 1989 and becoming a huge hit. Chip has released more than twenty albums with Enuff Z’Nuff and has toured with the likes of Missing Persons, Steven Adler, Cheap Trick, Poison, The Tragically Hip, Foreigner, Alice Cooper, REO Speedwagon, Ace Frehley and more. The Grammy-nominated artist has also produced dozens of other records and has had his music hailed by renowned US TV host David Letterman and radio personality Howard Stern.
In addition to writing, recording and touring with Enuff Z’Nuff, Chip currently hosts The Monsters of Rock radio show on the Dash Radio Network, playing the finest hits in hard rock and heavy metal to a large and dedicated audience.
Ken Mary’s long standing music career has placed him center stage in a wide spectrum of genres that have required an equally wide ranging and demanding set of skills. He is not only a drummer, but also an engineer, writer, vocalist, and an award winning producer. Combined, his body of work has sold over 5 million albums worldwide, and includes an extremely diverse, eclectic, and influential group of artists. His drumming can be heard on recordings from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper, Jordan Rudess, Northern Light Orchestra, Kip Winger, House of Lords, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Beach Boys, Impelliterri, Don Dokken, Fifth Angel, Bonfire, F5, and Soul Shock Remedy just to name a few.
Hit the link sit back and relax as Kenny gets on with some chatter that matters with the other Kenny
Coming outta Helsinki Finland, Plastic Tears have been around for ages knocking out a glam-punk sound on their own terms. They’ve just recorded a brand new album and to be fair it’s taking them to the next level with some excellent songs and they have undoubtedly found their own sound and added some good time Rock and Roll into the mix. We thought it was about time we sent out the call and brought them in for questioning. So it’s with great pleasure frontman and mainstay of the band Miqu who joined us for a chat and talk about all things Plastic Tears…
The band has been through some changes since starting out – how do you look back on the band’s career so far? You claimed that break-ups, lineups changes, record company changes and drama enough for a soap opera. Talk us through some of those soap opera moments?
We’ve been around for long, so we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs. The dramas are mostly stuff that happened in the beginning of our career. But we’ve split up on stage, had fights on stage, been filmed completely wasted for national TV and so on. We were wild, young and cocky then, I guess we’re a bit more stable nowadays. We’ve had a lot of lineup changes back in the day, and Eco and I are the only ones that are left from the early days. But I’m not much for nostalgia myself, I prefer to focus on the present.
The lineup is settled now, right? who writes the tunes in the band? and why?
Yeah, we’ve had this lineup since the last album, ‘Angels With Attitude’, and the band has matured a lot I think. I guess that’s what happens when you find the right guys who stay together. If you look through the band catalogue I seem to have written most of the songs. But I guess that’s kind of natural as I’ve been in the band from the start. But everyone in the band is welcome to contribute to the songwriting, and on our new album Juha has also written a couple of tunes. And that’s good because it widens the band’s sound.
The new album ‘Anthems For Misfits’ is about to be released, tell us about who’s releasing it an Italian label I believe? Where it was recorded? Give us some of the background as to how it was recording under lockdown during a pandemic or had it already been tracked?
Wormholedeath Records is releasing it worldwide. We’re really excited to work with them as they seem to be doing good work and still leave us the freedom to do stuff ourselves. That’s important to us, as we’re used to being independent and doing a lot of promotion ourselves. We had a European tour at the end of 2019, and before that we had already recorded the base for the album, the drums and bass.
When we got back we continued recording, but soon after that the pandemic started showing signs of itself. We were still able to continue recording, even though it progressed slower than originally intended. Our original plan was to release this album in the summer of 2020. We had to look for a new keyboard player too, as the one that was lined up didn’t want to expose his family to the virus. That’s understandable, but luckily we found Ville who did a marvelous job in the studio. We recorded at East Sound Studios in Helsinki with Sammy Aaltonen who also did the previous album with us. It’s easy for us to work with him as he comes from similar musical backgrounds and we could well fit on the same bill as his band Private Line.
As somebody who has been lucky enough to hear it, it’s fair to say it’s your strongest album thus far. Is that fair? I think the songs are stronger and the songwriting is really good there have been a few risks taken would that be a fair assessment?
I agree, it’s our strongest album this far. ‘Angels With Attitude’ already got a great response, and people have doubted me when I’ve said the new album is even better. I guess that’s how bands always feel about their new release, but I honestly think this is true. The band, the songs, and the production is better. We gave a lot of thought to the arrangements and wanted it to be a diverse album. I guess there are some risks, but, it’s not like we’ve consciously calculated what risks to take, the songs just came out like this.
We’ve always mixed in a bit of this and that, like ‘Spanish Whispers’ (still one of my favorite songs) reggae vibe on the first album, ‘Beat Me Blue’ on the second and so on. But I guess this time the production makes these things stand out better, and overall the album is diverse in a good way I think.
The first video/single is ‘Riot Zone’ which has a good hook but is only a fraction of what’s on offer why choose this one as the first to go public off the new record?
We had a lot of choices so this was a hard decision to make. The label wanted to make an animated lyrics video to go with the single, so in the end we made the choice based on which song would fit that kind of video the best. It’s also a strong ‘bang your head and raise your fist’ style of song that shows our punkier side and is easy to sing along to. And it has a really funny midsection!
The album opens up with a real shot of energy with ‘Doomsday girls’ which is a real Rocker with some fantastic piano that really lifts the song – whos playing that? and how important is the running order of a record?
‘Doomsday Girls’ is a great opener, and it immediately gets you into a party mood. The piano was played by Ville Tolvanen, aka Doc Tolvanen. He also played all the other piano/organ/keyboard parts on the album. He’s a blues/roots guy, but he did fantastic work on all the different styles of the songs. He himself said he’s never used as many different sounds and styles in a studio session, that kind of sums up the album. A big thank you to Ville, his parts were the icing on the cake! The running order is really important. We’re old school in the way that an album is the crown of your work and want it to be strong and balanced from start to finish. So we spent a lot of time thinking of the running order, and I think it worked out pretty good.
Talk us through some of the highlights of the album in your opinion? I love the opener but in the first three songs, there is a wealth of rock and roll all different but all obviously by the same band. Has this lineup struck on its identity?
‘Doomsday’ is one of my favorites too. I also love the dark gothic feel of ‘Candlelight Hate Affair’, the pop sensibility of ‘Clash in the Night’, the New York Dolls meets Elvis of ‘Crybaby’ and Hallucinations is a really special song that I can’t really categorize. I think we have. We’ve never wanted to be a band that’s easy to define. There’s rock, punk, glam, power pop, hard rock and more blended into our own sound, and I think all the pieces fell together like they were meant now.
What’s the scene like in Helsinki? for fans of Rock and Roll, live music? places to go bands to see? I know you have support over here on plague island are there any plans to play any shows further afield?
Well, there used to be clubs and venues before the pandemic, let’s see what’s left once this is over. The scene is pretty good, there’s good rock bands of all kinds, and of course a lot of metal bands as we’re talking about Finland. What I’m missing here is the kind of small half-sleazy rock bars, like old Loose and Bäkkäri were. But as always, clubs and bars come and go. Still, good venues to go see bands here, like Tavastia, Semifinal, (new) Loose, On The Rocks, etc.
We had a UK tour scheduled for last year with Paradise Alley, but then came the virus. The plan was to reschedule them for this year, and we’re still on the lineup for HRH Sleaze in August, hopefully, it can be carried through. And if, then we’ll hopefully get some other gigs booked there too. We’re also looking forward to getting back to mainland Europe once that’s possible.
What formats will the new album be available on?
Italian label Wormholedeath Records is releasing it on CD and digital. There have been requests for vinyl too, but as our deal doesn’t include vinyl, we’re still trying to find a way to get that done.
With regards to the new record tell us how it comes together? How do you go about putting it together? Do you demo the songs as individuals? What works for Plastic Tears?
Usually, someone makes a rough demo at home which is then played to the other guys. We then start arranging it and everyone puts in their own parts before entering the studio. As we recorded over a quite long time frame with Sammy we still had the chance to make some changes at Sammy’s East Sound Studios. I think this a couple of days of recording every now and then works well for us, as it gives us time to do changes, as opposed to doing it on a tighter schedule.
Tell us a bit about yourself Miqu. Did you always want to front a band? Who were your influences growing up and what other artists still make music you relate to and get inspired by?
Me, I’m just a rock’n’roll singer, who writes a lot of songs of which only a fraction are completed. I guess since I fell in love with rock’n’roll at about the age of ten I knew I someday wanted to work with music in one way or another. Elvis was my first step into the world of rock. Shortly after that, I got hooked on punk and soon widened my musical taste with bands like Lords of the New Church, Cheap Trick, Hanoi Rocks, Slade, and many more. Of older artists that still make music I can relate to and get inspired by, I would say, Alice Cooper, Blondie, Social Distortion, John Fogerty, and Rolling Stones. Of the newer bands, I love The Interrupters, Tiger Army, The Sounds, and The Baboon Show. I’m a music fan so I listen to a lot of old and new music.
Thats always good to hear, someone still in love with music.
Congratulations on the album I think it’s your best to date and a big step up in production and songwriting and the whole package (that’s not to say the previous ones were bad, they weren’t but this is excellent)
Thank you Dom, happy to hear this and I agree completely!
Alice Cooper must be one of a very rare breed in rock ‘n’ roll. Having now written and released music across seven different decades, I bet if you polled his fanbase for their favourite era or albums, the results would probably encompass most, if not all, of his many different career phases.
Me personally, I love the original Alice Cooper band albums (along with some of his mid and later era albums like ‘Special Forces’ and ‘Dirty Diamonds’) and of those records, it’s ‘Killer’ and ‘School’s Out’ that are my own go-to’s whenever I truly need to rekindle my love of Alice’s extensive back catalogue.
This rather conveniently brings me to ‘Detroit Stories’, an album that not only sees Alice return to his hometown and Alice Cooper band era roots, but also sees him fully reunited with producer Bob Ezrin, the man behind the desk for both of those old Alice Cooper band records I love so much.
Written and recorded using only Detroit based musicians (albeit with the exception of guest guitarists Joe Bonamassa and current AC band mainstay Tommy Henriksen) the fifteen songs that make up ‘Detroit Stories’ are what Alice himself refers to as being ‘Pure Detroit’. With the crack team of musicians assembled around him boasting the likes of Wayne Kramer (guitarist with the MC5), Johnny ‘Bee’ Badanjek (drummer with the legendary Detroit Wheels), Paul Randolph (legendary Detroit jazz and R&B bassist) as well as the Motor City Horns, they all help to build on the formula that Alice first tested out with his 2019 ‘Breadcrumbs EP, and in turn are all helping him create perhaps his most diverse set of (luney) tunes in quite some time.
As with ‘Breadcrumbs’ a few of these songs turn out to cover versions, like the excellent album opener – Alice’s version of Velvet Undergrounds’ ‘Rock And Roll’. However, what Alice does here (unlike with the covers that he does with Hollywood Vampires) is he really makes this song sound like one of his own. I mean you could be forgiven for thinking that ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is actually an Alice song, or that it was at perhaps written just for him.
‘Go Man Go’ is the album’s first Cooper co-write and having been originally included on the aforementioned ‘Breadcrumbs’ EP the almost punk-like swagger of this tune might actually come as something of a surprise to some of Alice’s more hard rock biased fans who are yet to hear that EP, however knowing just how many punk rockers were originally influenced by Da Coop it’s great to hear him re-engaging with that rougher 70s spirit once again.
Likewise, ‘Our Love Will Change The World’ is also something of a surprise – not least because it’s a pretty faithful retelling of a 2008 penned Outrageous Cherry tune – and as such it sounds not much like Alice and much more like a latter day John Lennon song, one that bounces around on an optimistically youthful refrain. Some AC fans have already voiced their dislike of this song since it was first aired back in late 2020, but I like it as it fits perfectly within the jigsaw puzzle of songs that make up the complete ‘Detroit Stories’ picture.
‘Social Debris’ is up next and that finds us very much back on more familiar Alice Cooper band territory (featuring as it does Messrs Dunaway, Smith, and Bruce), albeit I just can’t get out of my head how much this could be a song written for an in his prime Ace Frehley. And talking of KISS on ‘$1000 High Heel Shoes’ AC once again proves that anything Starchild can do he can do better, as this delicious funky soul jam has seemingly already earned the moniker of one of the oddest songs Alice has ever recorded…well it is I suppose if all you have ever heard by AC is ‘Poison’ or ‘Trash’.
‘Hail Mary’ and the 2021 reboot of ‘Detroit City’ (originally on Alice’s 2003 ‘Eye’s Of…’ album and featured again on the ‘Breadcrumbs’ EP) return things to Alice’s more modern day upbeat hard rock territory before the sleazy blues jam of ‘Drunk And In Love’ and the high kicking ‘Independence Dave’ both once again usher in the anything goes attitude of those ‘70s Ezrin produced albums I mentioned earlier.
The Cooper, Dunaway, and Ezrin penned ‘I Hate You’ is another fantastic sonic curveball, as is the almost showtunes-y ‘Wonderful World’. Both tracks giving the mid-section of ‘Detroit Stories’ a couple more “WTF” moments (and I do mean that in the most positive sense too).
As ‘Detroit Stories’ enters its final four chapters the inclusion of MC5’s ‘Sister Anne’ and Bob Seger’s East Side Story’ are the only times when I’m left thinking that perhaps they were best just left on ‘Breadcrumbs’, largely because the original Cooper tunes that they bookend in ‘Don’t Give Up’ and ‘Shut Up And Rock’ just sounds so much more interesting. It’s the only tiny gripe that I have with ‘Detroit Stories’ though, as four years on from ‘Paranormal’ and with everything else going on across the world right now it’s just an absolute joy to get to grips with such an upbeat and positive sounding Alice Cooper record.
Oh, and talking of ‘Paranormal’ if you are fortunate enough to get one of the expanded formats of ‘Detroit Stories’ you will also find a DVD or Blu-ray copy of Alice’s A Paranormal Evening at the Olympia Paris’ concert film included as part of your package, as the great man wants us to experience this show in the safety of our homes. A truly wonderful gesture from an artist who with ‘Detroit Stories’ is proving he is still one of the greatest storytellers the rock world has ever had.
The Coop heads up this Monday’s videos and this is the first taste of his new record and what a banger it is. Check out ‘Social Debris’ taken from ‘Detroit Stories’ which you can pre order Here
Following the release of their new EP ‘Threesome Vol. 2’, The Lickerish Quartet have just unveiled a hazy video for ‘The Dream That Took Me Over’. Which was reviewed on RPM Here
Set in Los Angeles, or is it set in a dream? Has this happened before or is this the first time? ‘The Dream That Took Me Over’ reflects on longing as well as the uncertainty of desire and its addictive pursuit.
Finally here’s a banger I can’t stop listening to from The Dangereens who released one of the best albums of 2020 – Enjoy some real good time RnR.
I’ll let JJ introduce what you’re reading, ” In short, the reason we did this was, we were going to record a video for Rats from the album with the guys from the notes, but, well, covid! So I also had a hard drive fail and lost some of the original files, so, we decided to rerecord it, and, also round and a round, as Billy sang on the original demo (on Best Of You) before Kory Clarke sang the album version, so, we redid that
We have a few songs already for the next album, and some weren’t going to fit, so we added a couple here. And, struck on the idea to get The Suicide notes on all the songs. Always loved Smoke It Like A Cigarette by them, so, we did our version, but, Billy sang it, Alex took the lead, and, his better half Kate had a vocal that was meant to be on the original but they didn’t get it down, so, she is on here.
Covers wise, Billy, Alex and Dame are helping with my Anti-Fashion project, so, we pinched Bad Luck from that. Drunk Like Me, I love, we love, and, knew Billy would kill the vocals. Bathroom Wall was a last minute addition/suggestion from Alex, so, we threw that down as well. On these 3, we have the wonderful Bret Barnes adding some sax
The last track we started a while back, the Alice cooper cover, and, it turned out amazing!
We also have the very talented Frank Meyer (Streetwalkin Cheetahs) adding additional vocals, keys, etc all over too.”
Ok, that makes perfect sense. But what the fuck does it sound like I hear you shout and where can I give them my money?
Here goes, ‘Rats!’ opens up with the title track and on a thunderously sleazy hotrod of Glam Slammin’ rock and roll it is. It’s got a heart as big as a beachball and it’s pumping ten to the dozen and a real whiplash rocket ride it is too. but don’t think for one minute that’s where it ends. No sirs it goes on with the party anthems of ‘Round And (A) Round’ followed by the brawling ‘The Right Way’ which is barking and snapping at the heels of the previous song.
There’s a bit of respite as ‘Inside Of You’ might be slower and more melodic but it’s not losing any of the attitude that’s pouring outta this record. You might be familiar with ‘Smoke It Like A Cigarette’ if you were paying attention to the acoustic Suicide Notes release. Sped up and rocked out it’s a top tune no question. I guess it makes sense to follow that with their take of the Dogs classic ‘Drunk Like Me’.
If you ever had a passing admiration for Mike Ness you might want to check out their take on ‘Bad Luck’ and of course, they slaughter the Faster Pussycat classic that is ‘Bathroom Wall’ in a suitably sleazy demolition job and the Sax is a welcome addition on the song. But the take on ‘Department Of Youth’ is impressive and the bar is raised with a great job completed on a great tune.
Closing off proceedings is a super sleazy take on Love Hates Classic Rocker ‘Blackout In The Red Room’ who said sleazy Hard Rock was done? you might want to check this out. It sounds like an arctic truckload of pinched harmonics and distorted scales.
Get the beers in boys and girls and wrap up all breakables, move the furniture back and turn the stereo up City Kids and The Suicide Notes are taking over the decks, and it’s a nonstop Rock and Fuckin Roll Partee, motherfuckers! and none of em give a single Rats! Get on it right now!
members of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Slash’s Snake Pit, Finn Brothers, Alice Cooper, Air & Beck – and all formerly of Jellyfish – reunite for 2nd EP with their first official UK release.
Roger Joseph Manning Jr.,Tim Smith and Eric Dover are excited to announce their highly anticipated THREESOME VOL.2 EP, to be released 8th January 2021, will be their first on British indie label Lojinx. The first single, “Snollygoster Goon,” is out now.
Of “Snollygoster Goon” Eric Dover says “The music is Adderall-based, in theory, to reflect the absolutebreakneck speed at which the corruption flourishes. A frenetic forensic foray into classic old-as-civilization themes involving greed, graft and corruption as applied to any political sphere. The snake oil salesman kissing babies, the saccharine unimaginative public image.”
The new release is, naturally, the follow-up to their debut EP, THREESOME VOL.1 – lauded by critics as “a masterpiece” – which was released in May 2020 in the US.
With song titles “Snollygoster Goon,” “The Dream That Took Me Over,” “Sovereignty Blues,” and “Do You Feel Better?” Manning, Smith, and Dover’s undeniable chemistry can once again be found throughout THREESOME VOL.2.
The songs formed from the same sessions that begun in 2017 offer a slinky and feisty landscape of temptation, freedom of thought, hope and dreams, and a shout out to all who game the systems. An edgy second round of soaring vocals, angular guitars, and pulsing drums, enveloped by timeless keyboard arrangements requires multiple listens to appreciate fully. Manning, Dover and Smith ruminate on the other 3 new songs:
“Do You Feel Better?” as told by Tim Smith:
A romp along the primrose path of temptations, internal and external, real or imagined, the tiny demons we dance with throughout our lives. A pulsing bass and hypnotic guitar rhythm plays like the backing band to a striptease you’ve sneaked into, and don’t know where to sit, but all are welcome!
Some things are more dangerous than others, of course, but this song is sort of a combination of letting your guard down, because of preconceived notions of what’s right or wrong, and justification of actions you think you understand to have under control. Who knows?
Experiences do give us perspective, and this song tries to play between the id and superego – a Screwtape letter demon, and an Angel of Mercy.
“Sovereignty Blues” as told by Roger Joseph Manning Jr.:
“Fears fire’s all they’re fanning, but I won’t light up their fuse.” A tale as old as humanity. Group control over another through the tried and true tactic of fear. And always partnered with a fatal dose of “divide and conquer.” But who’s actually pulling the levers and pushing the buttons of the propaganda machine behind the Wizard of Oz’ curtain of crowd control, so to speak? Irrelevant.
Ultimately, the perennial question for any person, provided they value sovereignty above all else, is: am I going to choose love over fear, peace over chaos, and God over the ego in any given moment? Everything can be taken from a man but one thing (to quote Viktor Frankl): “The last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” And with that in mind, grab a torch, march to your own drum, and sing along!
“The Dream That Took Me Over” as told by Eric Dover:
You are driving without a destination lured by the wanderlust of your own making. You turn up the stereo volume and continue along, moonlight reflecting off the chrome of your vehicle.
We invite you to put the top down and take a ride into the inner dialectic of our conflicted protagonist as we answer the question: Is there equilibrium in the chaos or does science hold the key?
The first single from THREESOME VOL.1, “Lighthouse Spaceship,” has had nearly 100,000 plays on Spotify since its release in March with the vinyl release undergoing multiple re-pressings due to rabid demand.
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