LA GUNS: "The Devil You Know"

Rating: RRRR
Label: Frontiers 2019
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

L.A. Guns and The Devil You Know. It's basically raw, you know, everything from song material, performances by the band members to the so-so production by Tracii Guns. And that's nicely put by the way. It's grit, dirt, filth, stench and goo, plus various other words that would normally make people turn around and walk away. It's basement horror and sheer terror. If you came here looking for goodie-goodies, rainbows and unicorns, keep dreaming sucker. Derranged and darn right wicked and mental Sleaze-Rock on the other hand? I guess it's you're lucky day! Do you feel lucky, punk?

It ain't pretty. It ain't clean. It certainly ain't soppy/sloppy and soft poser rock. It's frankly just ugly and aggressive glitter-gutter and the stuff you'll find at the bottom of a backalley in the LA scene. Gotta' love the way Phil Lewis sings the words "Loaded Bomb" as the Queen's English (he's from good old England and Girl, you know?) shines through and add yet another dimension to the material. The title track howls like a mental Adam Ant (to close to home?) on a night out with Kyuss. Darn right nasty. I'm not entirelly sure why I like it? But I do. It's bigger, louder, better. It's L.A. Guns on steriods. "Needle To The Bone", fun and catchy stuff. "Gone Honey" draw inspiration from MC5, Iggy, The Stooges, and Detroit. "Another Season In Hell", the much needed break from the asylum and the great ballad I may add.

The resulting mess is pure Sleaze/punk gore. They aren't about to use the LA Guns to completely kill rock n roll and that's as good as you'll get these days. The guns are blasting from the word go. It's a shame about the production though. It may lack the extra volume and sound. However. It's Punky/Sleazy stuff and these acts never sounded like Def Leppard's Hysteria or whatever. Final verdict: The Devil You Know, like a sucker punch on your birthday. It's a surprise - but not always nice. Deal with it... sucker! facebook.com/L.A.GunsOfficial

The TREATMENT: "Power Crazy"

Rating: RRRR
Label: Frontiers 2019
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

The Treatment and dare I say the cure to all your basic (very basic?) needs regarding rock n roll? "I don't need you to tell me want you what me to do. So here's my middle finger and it's aiming straight at you". It's album number four and yet another new voalist? Sound and lyric-wise, they are now about as original as a rocker or indeed footballer covered in tattoos and that's not saying a whole lot(ta Rosie) in the year of 2019. It's like if they've been drinking a whole lotta beer while listening to a whole lotta Acca Dacca albums and thinking, we can do that, we're not from down under (that's Australia if you're too posh to geddit), but what could possible go wrong? Not a whole lot(ta Rosie). It's okay to be from Cambridge, U.K. It's all about four chords and no frills anyhow.

The new shouter? Tom Rampton is the name and the game is darn excellent vocals in the tradition of Bon Scott and the two blokes from Airbourne/Bonafide. There's a healthy dosage of Aussie rock and roll throughout, and the whole thing is brought to a new acca dacca level by fresh out of the woods vocalist Rampton. For instance. "Bite Back", the best beer drinking anthem of the year. You'll be howling along to the opening line of "Stick and stones may break my bones". Are the Grey's Power Crazy? That's correct, the six-string benders are brothers. Acca Dacca right down to the shoe-laces? "We believe this record is a strong statement from the band and we look forward to playing the new songs live. We will be touring throughout 2019 and can't wait to see all you Treatment troops at our shows next year", says the band.

Unlike past Treatment recordings, where their Airrace background and not to mention lead vocals usally ended up getting short changed in the mix, here, it leaves a lasting effect long after the darn thing's stopped spinning. Do people still spin records? All guitars, all the time? Actually, "King Of The City" could also double as the soundtrack of your street fighting movie of the eighties. But yeah. It's still pretty much about guitars though. "Waiting For The Call", the cool breeze during a long hot summer of Power Crazy tunes. The bonus track, the acoustic version of "Bite Back" is frankly just no good. The living proof to the fact that you need crazy power (not to be confused with Power Crazy) and electric guitars to get the songs going at eleven. Crack it Up! Try it if you're into acts such as Airbourne, Dirty Looks, Kix, Krokus, Dangerous Toys, and you-know-who... made who. facebook.com/TheTreatmentOfficial

BURNING RAIN: "Face The Music"

Rating: Rr
Label: Frontiers 2019
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Face The Music? I can barely face the day and certainly not eleven tracks of blues driven hard rock w/o memorable melodies. Burning Rain is a hard rock band established in 1998 by guitarist extraordinare Doug Aldrich (Lion, Whitesnake, Dio, The Dead Daisies, Revolution Saints) and vocalist Keith St. John (Ronnie Montrose). The brand new line-up featuring Blas Elias (Slaughter) on drums and Brad Lang (Y&T) on bass, add a wicked rhythm section, but sadly not quite enough of swagger.

Tracks such as "Nasty Hustle", "Since I'm Loving You", the title track, or "Beautiful Road" really are poor man's version of Whitesnake. The latter trying to be cool 'ala still of the night and ended up sounding like a tool 'ala who-gives-a-damn. It's in one ear and out the other and all the time in the world wouldn't help in your quest to recall the melody. What melody? "Shelter" is a decent attempt at Led Zeppelin and their balladic stuff. "Hit and Run" include killer lines such as "Mamma always love me like the bird and the bees". "Givin little Sally in the alley when you're ready to play". Or why not "Baby always like it on top but ya love to go down. Always put me in the middle and play me like a fiddle all night". What the fudge? Yours truly wrote the same kind of lyrics at the age of twelve and I barely knew English.

Bow yer heads in shame as the overall lyrics are so juvenile and dare I say sexist? I do and I did. It's frankly just sad. You need more proof? Above mentioned "Nasty Hustle" and I quote, "Ohh your face looks like a trainwreck. Baby please I think I'll need a raincheck. Don't want ya down on your knees. You're just a dime a dozen, it's a fact". Geez. It just goes on and on throughout the track. Hostility? Misogyny? In fact. The entire track is one long international woman hating anthem. Let's leave with one last quote, "Your filthy body's such a bore. Gotta toss ya like a whore. So say goodbye". Indeed. It's time to say goodbye. Tossers.