Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Gene the Werewolf
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2012
Duration: 40:18
Rating: 3.5/5
Gene The Werewoilf, a Pittsburgh quintet of naughty glam sleaze rockers, comes out swinging with its debut »Rock N’ Roll Animal«. Apparently the Scandinavian bands have hit their mark after a few years of an unrelenting avalanche from the revival scene, one that threw up a whole pile of bands with excellent players in their lineups. They don’t reinvent anything, but they’re authentic and sincere in how they relive the glory days of the Sunset Strip. Now the US is waking up too (again).
“Rock N’ Roll Animal” is a shameless stroll through the legacy of a mixed bag of debauched “party time” bands, each of which tossed an important pebble into the shaping of the sleaze glam scene. It starts with the potency of Kiss (Firecracker) and Mötley Crüe, while the whole of Light Me Up, with its vocal harmonizing and chorus chants, blatantly nods to Def Leppard, and the primitive guitar riffing often flirts with the elemental simplicity of AC/DC (the title track).
There’s no shortage of fun-loving bravado on the album, but a welcome touch of healthy wit sneaks in too, drawing parallels with The Darkness. That’s not just in the lyrics but also in the vocal lines of the main chorus chants, as well as in the (occasional) rustic backing of honky tonk piano, like in Ruffneck Woman (you get the feeling the chorus could tip over into Kiss’s Crazy Crazy Nights any second now). The vocal lines in Heart Of Steel and I’ve Got The Love are the ones that really sit close to The Darkness. The Ballad Of Gene, with a bit more symphonic sweep and pronounced keyboards, provocatively pulls into its sound exactly what The Darkness pull from the sound of Queen,
First and foremost, Gene the Werewolf are so convincing thanks to the excellent vocal performance of singer Jon Belan (no family ties here to the Mediterranean crowd-pleasing sugar-pop man Neno Belan). The guy lashes through his vocal register with poisonous fire, leading the performance with decisive conviction and a highly contagious authority, squeezing every drop out of the melodies. Naturally, a combination of clattering pomp beats, backed by kick-in-the-teeth trivial riffing and topped with this kind of vocal firepower, is instantly infectious.
There’s no shortage of great guitar moves on the album either. The songs are driven by excellent improvised guitar parts, which never run short of genuine blood flow and a hungry passion for soloing, all the way to the inventive solutions in the transitions, dosed with just the right amount of guitar ornament (Give It Up). So you really don’t want to mess with Gene The Werewolf. They win you over with their bewitching infectiousness!
Gene the Werewolf are excellent musicians who know exactly where their place of effective excess lies in their craft, and there they convince full-bloodedly. A dirty rock n’ roll riff, with a patch of punk nonchalance and a heap of melodic pomp sugar, will daze you into unconsciousness. A generally likable product, even though we’ve all heard these riffs before. But in the right hands they always ignite convincingly. The only question is whether all the trains of the glam sleaze rock revival have already left the station for Gene The Werewolf. Let’s give it time.
Lineup
Jon Belan – vocals, guitar
Drew Donegan – guitar
Aaron Mediate – keyboards
Nick Revak – drums
Tim Schulz – bass guitar, backing vocals
Production
Jamie Woolford
Track list
1. Wicked Love
2. I Only Wanna Rock N Roll
3. Superhero
4. Heart Of Steel
5. Rock N Roll Animal
6. I’ve Got The Love
7. Ruffneck Woman
8. Light Me Up
9. Firecracker
10. Give It Up
11. The Ballad Of Gene
