WHO ARE THEY? A long-forgotten band of ’70s Sunset Strip rockers who were originally assembled by notorious impresario Kim Fowley as a West Coast version of The New York Dolls — but fell victim to the usual mix of bad luck, bad timing and bad decisions that have killed countless bands.
WHAT IS THIS? A previously unreleased album that was recorded more than four decades ago, and has been released to coincide with some reunion shows the band began playing in 2018.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? Pretty average ’70s riff-rock and power-pop, for the most part. The Dolls certainly had nothing to worry about. And to be honest, if these guys had been from Des Moines instead of Los Angeles, nobody would care.
WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS ALBUM? In keeping with the Dolls motif, let’s go with Too Little Too Late.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? With low expectations.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Commercial, competent, glammy, hooky, melodic, average, uninspired, cliche, predictable, inessential.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SONGS? Too Hot to Handle and All the Kids on the Street are decent rockers. Pity their most famous song — King of the Night Time World, which was drastically reworked by Kiss on Destroyer — isn’t included here.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY SAY? ‘They really thought it was a good idea to write a song called Houdini of Rock and Roll? That explains a lot.’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? Once should do it. Twice if you’re feeling generous.
IF THIS ALBUM WERE A STORE, WHAT KIND OF STORE WOULD IT BE? A second-hand store full of overpriced things nobody really needs or wants.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL IT? Really, it’s not even interesting or original enough to steal.
