(This review first appeared in issue #84 of Shindig! magazine.)
LA-based Smash Fashion burst onto the music scene with their debut Big Cat Love in 2014 proving that the retro glam scene wasn't purely reserved for Italian bootboys. Rompus Pompous serves up another batch of guitarist/vocalist Roger Deering's songs. They're bold, brash, melodic and defiantly good-time, with a sonic template based on '70s FM rock and lyrics that are playful, funny and hark back to a time before rock music started taking itself so seriously. Duelling twin-guitars abound and actively embrace the much-maligned guitar technique of squealing pinched harmonics.
For all its knowingly tongue-in-cheek humour, Rompus Pompous does however contain a genuine rock ballad epic in 'Smiles And Daggers', a track that rivals Guns 'n' Roses' 'November Rain' in scale and ambition. It reveals a musically hot band at the top of their game and comes embellished with sumptuous piano playing courtesy of David Bowie's long-serving keyboardist Mike Garson.
LA's
premier junkshop glam outfit back with a new LP!
“Rock
is dead they say, Long Live Rock!” - The Who, 'Long Live Rock' 1972
“Hey
hey, my my, Rock and Roll will never die” - Neil Young, 'My My, Hey
Hey (Out Of The Blue)' 1979
Rock
music's resilience is something else (as Eddie Cochran might have
said!) Should human civilisation ever destroy itself, millions of
years from now some future race of intelligent cockroach on an
archaeological dig will probably find a Crosley turntable and stash
of RSD reissued Thin Lizzy and AC/DC albums. They'll treat them as
sacred texts and a new religion will arise, with power chords,
pinched harmonics and sexually charged lyrics at its core. That's how
resilient rock music is.
The
last time Rock took centre stage in the mainstream was when The
Darkness were on the verge of becoming world beaters with their first
album. That never came to pass but it did show that classic rock had
more mileage in it. Justin and co never fulfilled their early promise
but they did serve as a reminder that classic rock is called classic
for good reason
LA-based
quartet SMASH Fashion make a heady brew of music that merges classic,
stadium and glam rock. They serve it up with a hefty dose of good
natured humour and some cheeky innuendo. And wouldn't you know it,
it's fun! If their latest album Rompus
Pompous
had been released in 1979 it might by now have been getting the RSD
colour vinyl reissue treatment, weighted as it is with all the tropes
and moves of rock classicism.
Their
debut LP Big Cat Love
came out in 2014, since when main songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Roger
Deering has stockpiled a fresh batch of hook-laden gems which make up
their new long-player. Such is the infectious joy spread across the
record, even Bowie's go-to keyboard man Mike Garson was persuaded to
guest on the album, contributing piano to 'Smiles And Daggers'. It's
impossible to listen to Rompus Pompous in its entirety without a
smile appearing on your face. This is good-time stuff that justifies
being played loud. Plenty of twin guitar solos, '70s FM playability,
a knowing silliness and a production sheen not often found in 2018.
Stick this on in the car on your way to work and Monday morning's
sinking feeling will soon disappear. Out now!
