(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!
LA's
premier junkshop glam outfit return with a brand new 7”!
The current cachet of
junkshop glam seems to be spreading. The Italians are well
represented by Giuda and Faz Waltz of course, and the UK has Ulysses,
but in glam's capital city of LA where glamour and sleaze go together
like Jack 'n' Coke, or er... Hugh and Divine, there's the mighty
SMASH Fashion, the self-confessed dandy-rockers whose penchant for
power chords is matched only by their fondness of the dressing-up
box.
Their LP Big Cat
Love won over a new legion of fans in 2014 and the band now
follow it up with a brand new 7” on lovely bright red vinyl.
'Junkie Luck' turns the feelgood factor up to ten, and features a
tale inspired by Lee Harvey Oswald Band guitarist Zowie Fenderblast.
If bands with sunglasses indoors, floppy velvet hats, and Flying V
guitars is your thing look no further. And this band has tunes made
for both FM and AM radio. The A-side is the sonic equivalent of a
Chunky Kit-Kat, big on melody and riffs and a real sugar boost! The
flip shows the band's roots via an equally enjoyable stab at Golden
Earring's Long Blond Animal'. As welcome as a backstage pass! Let's
party!
As a Hull City fan I
don't need much encouragement to show some big cat love. Though let's
not mention the Tigers' poor first foray in the Europa league! (Oh I
just did!) Anyhow I'm sure fellow Hull City fan Mick Ronson would
have approved of Big Cat Love,
the debut LP from Los Angeles glam-choppers Smash Fahion. It's an
album that takes inspiration from that first wave of early '70s glam
rock acts. There are shades of Ronson-era Bowie, early Queen, The
Sweet, Mott The Hoople and a whole raft of lesser known junk shop
glam bands.
There's
a fair bit of this stuff around at the moment with Italian
retro-glammers such as Giuda and Fab Waltz ploughing a similar
furrow. Then there's Bath-based funsters Ulysses with their
toungue-in-cheek take on mid 1970s pop-rock. Perhaps it's a legacy of
the gap left by the demise of The Darkness's early promise, or maybe
it's a result of musicians of a certain age reaching back to their
formative musical influences. Whatever the reasons it certainly makes
for great fun listening.
For all the '70s
Brit-glam influences there's a distinctly transatlantic hue to the
album,
not
too surprising given that over time the band has been made up of
ex-members of US bands Rock City Angels (Johnny Depp's old band no
less), The Dils, along with Brit Nigel Mogg (ex-Quireboys and nephew
of UFO's Phil Mogg) and Repo, drummer from Finnish band Smack. Unlike
first wave glam-rock, the hand claps and stomps are kept to a
minimum, replaced with a modern LA-rock sheen.
Like
all the best glam there are enough moments of lyrical silliness,
plenty good riffs and OTT guitar solos to keep the party going. Along
with the glitter and and glam there's a healthy dose of power pop, LA
sleaze-rock and even traces of hair-metal. Definitely one for the
party animals out there.
