Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Crazy Lixx
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2012
Runtime: 47:17
Rating: 4/5
Crazy Lixx belong to the Swedish crop of bands that helped shape what became known as “The New Wave of Swedish Sleaze”. Crashdïet, Hardcore Superstar, Babylon Bombs and Vains of Jenna were part of it too. Of course, the bands drifted apart stylistically over time, and Crazy Lixx carved out a sound all their own.
Crazy Lixx already have two excellent studio albums under their belt. Considering how polished those were, expectations for the new »Riot Avenue« were naturally sky-high. This time around, though, Crazy Lixx have served up an album that reeks of their early days more than ever. In other words, they’ve gone back to the era before their 2007 debut »Loud Minority«. That means they stripped away the controlled sound of the previous albums and threw even more balls on the plate. They made sure to bring a clear connotation of cheek and filth, which fits their look and voice to a T. With »Riot Avenue« Crazy Lixx are once again the ultimate party-time band, still making no secret of their Def Leppard influence, as well as Kiss, but they kick you in the forehead more directly than ever (if we compare just the three studio releases). So they added more dirt to their sound, with that primal rock n’ roll drive.
News of the day: the band has picked up another guitarist, who goes by the stage name Edd Liam. On »Riot Avenue« the band is credited as a quintet, but today they’re stuck looking for a new rhythm section. Shortly after the album was recorded, drummer Joey Cirera and bassist Loke Rivano left the band. The curse on Crazy Lixx’s lineup stability apparently lives on. And yet. As long as founding member and frontman Danny Rexon is in it, Crazy Lixx will always be with us. This new style suits Rexon’s vocal approach even better. His touch of tempting, cheeky come-ons to easy-living girls, graced by a throaty contour that amps up the sense of unbridled naughtiness of untamed stallions who have no intention of lifting their foot off the gas pedal pressed deep into the floor of the car, comes through on »Riot Avenue« more than ever before.
These Swedes have a feel for melodic catchiness in their blood. They’re not the only ones, not the first and not the last. That’s just the Scandinavian school, and it never lets you down! In production terms, this is the band’s rawest album to date, partly thanks to the addition of another guitar and the aforementioned fact that the sound is deliberately less controlled, which puts the emphasis on liveliness. There’s no shortage of “Leppardesque” moments, as the opening Whiskey Tango Foxtrot makes clear, or Heatseeker, not to mention the venomously tuneful chorus of Sweet, Bad & Beautiful, while the song Riot Avenue could easily fit on a Kiss album from the mid-eighties. So the album is chock-full of hit single potential, and for the first single the band picked a tried-and-true, high-speed kick in the teeth called In The Night.
»Riot Avenue« is an album that will leave you in a state of arousal. With it, Crazy Lixx prove they’ve pulled off a mild stylistic detour from the previous two albums in fine fashion, flirting with their roots while keeping all their credibility. »Riot Avenue« is thus a full-blooded Crazy Lixx album, retaining an exceptional sense of melodic catchiness, potent rock attitude and a true “sleaze” connotation. The band has added to its expression what it had mildly held back on the debut: rock nakedness and dirt, in which they clearly feel more than at home! »Riot Avenue«, as Crazy Lixx’s third studio album, is a different story. But it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if it had ended up playing the role of the debut, or had come out before »Loud Minority«. Furious and masterful! Let’s hope the guys put together a five-piece lineup as soon as possible and drag themselves out on a new European tour just as fast!
Line-up
Danny Rexon – vocals
Andy Dawson – guitar
Edd Liam – guitar
Loke Rivano – bass
Joey Cirera – drums
Track list
01. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
02. Young Blood
03. Riot Avenue
04. Fire It Up
05. Downtown
06. In The Night
07. Church Of Rock
08. Heatseeker
09. Sweet, Bad & Beautiful
10. Be Gone
11. Only The Dead Know
