Label: Noisehead Records 2014
Review by Rich Dillon
It almost seems that Sweden has become the
new Sunset Strip of late 80’s L.A. turning out a veritable force of sleaze and
glam rock bands and the Avesta/Stockholm based Vanity BLVD is no exception!
Being a “judge a book by the cover” kind of
guy sometimes, the first thing I look at with a new album, especially if the
band is unknown to me, is the album artwork.
In this case Vanity BLVD’s
latest offering, Wicked Temptation, showcases artwork that just screams
sleaze. Perfect, can’t wait to spin this
one…….
Opening up with “Dirty Rat” just confirmed all of my suspicions about this release
and band with its piss and vinegar type of attitude laden riffs and
lyrics. “Miss Dangerous” gets the fist pumping and keeps the record moving
through to “Do or Die” for which
there’s a video accompaniment. ("Do
or Die" Official Video) From
there we get into “Hot Teaser”, a
really catchy track dripping with sleazy lyrics that could well be the “top of
the heap” here for me. And that’s only
the first four selections of an eleven track complement, the rest following
right along making a fine collection sure to please fans of the genre, the only
low point being the ballad “Falling Down”.
Given my enjoyment of Wicked Temptation I was
wondering why I had not crossed paths with Vanity BLVD. previously. There is not a lot of information readily
available on the history of the band and even their Facebook page (VanityBLVD) offers only “let the
music do the talking ;)” under the biography column. Aside from their formation in 2005 and the
debut release, Rock N Roll Overdose, being issued in 2008 the only deduction I
can make is that they’ve endured some line up adjustments over the years since
formation. This current slice of dirty,
glammy heaven features Traci Trexx wielding the axe while Pete Ash handles bass
and Jens Gebb sits behind the kit. The
trio of guys are led by the sometimes sultry, occasionally gruff vocal prowess
of Anna Savage. A definite must for
anyone loving the glam era of the late 80’s.
Website:
http://www.vanityblvd.com/index.php
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