Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Ugly Kid Joe
Label: Self-released
Release: year_month
Length: 21:43
Rating: 3.8/5
If you grew up in the nineties of the last century and kept at least one eye on MTV (which back then could still boast digestible music, unlike today), you couldn’t have avoided the videos by California’s Ugly Kid Joe for Cat’s in the Cradle and Everything About You even if you’d tried, two of the biggest (alt) music hits of the early nineties. But Ugly Kid Joe were more than just two hits – with a light and relaxed Californian »don’t-give-a-fuck« attitude and a great-sounding mix of hard rock, heavy metal and funk, plus a dash of off-the-wall humor, they easily won over crowds and charts. Their very first EP As Ugly As They Wanna Be sold over a million copies and went double platinum, and the full-length debut America’s Least Wanted pulled off the same. With a more serious direction on the following albums Menace to Sobriety and Motel California, sales sadly dropped too (unfairly so, since both are good albums), and in 1997 Ugly Kid Joe went down in history. Until the year before last, that is, when they announced their return from the dead, crowned with the recently released comeback EP Stairway To Hell.
Is it their best work? No, that title still belongs to America’s Least Wanted, but Stairway To Hell is one hell of a record. On it, Ugly Kid Joe don’t sound as mischievous and satirical as in their early days, but more grown-up, mature and serious. Most of the EP’s tracks are tinted »darker« – a trait that brings the songs closer to those on the »farewell« record Motel California. Right from the opener Devil’s Paradise, Ugly Kid Joe cheerfully and candidly show us where their biggest influences lie: the devil’s paradise drifts into your ears on »groovy« riffs reminiscent of AC/DC, and the still-phenomenal Whitfield Crane even recalls Bon Scott vocally. Crane has kept that fantastic vocal mojo that made him one of the best vocalists of the younger generation in the band’s early years, and years of experience have turned Whitfield into a brilliant vocal commander. Except on the angry You Make Me Sick, Crane no longer sings through his nose (at least not to such a large extent), instead shining with an exceptionally clean and melodic voice, best heard in the infectious chorus of No One Survives, where he respectfully tips his hat to another big influence (on both the band and himself) – Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. If the first half of the EP at times reminds you more of Another Animal than of UKJ, the second trio of tracks already sounds more homey and gets very close to the roots of California’s Pretty Boy Floyd crowd (hehe). If there’s anything to fault Stairway to Hell for, it’s that the guys are wading in safer waters this time, having left much of the bad-assery, anti-society edge and »fuck-off« attitude in the past. I especially miss a track loaded with that attitude, one that would recall classics like Sandwich or Neighbor. They do get close to it with the funky love ballad Love Ain’t True, where Whitfield is joined by Angelo Moore and Dirty Walt of Fishbone, and most of all with the closing acoustic ode to beer Another Beer, with which we walk down the stairs into hell, grab an ice-cold beer from the fridge and join the Devil on the couch, who’s got a Beavis & Butthead marathon running on the TV.
Stairway to Hell is an extremely solid record that doesn’t yet have the fully finished Ugly Kid Joe flavor, but it’s damn nice to hear new material from Crane and his gang again after 15 years of silence. Even though on the EP UKJ move in somewhat different waters than we’re used to from them, the main thing is that you can feel the unique chemistry still exists among the members. The EP lacks a bit more looseness, and above all a »feel good« track that would become a summer alt anthem. Still, Stairway To Hell is proof that Ugly Kid Joe aren’t just a »nostalgia act« but matured musicians who are aware of their roots. And the little dirty brat has proudly put his cap back on and thrown his middle finger high in the air.
Lineup
Whitfield Crane – vocals
Klaus Eichstadt – guitar
Dave Fortman – guitar
Cordell Crockett – bass
Shannon Larkin – drums
Production
Ugly Kid Joe
Tracklist
1. Devil’s Paradise
2. You Make Me Sick
3. No One Survives
4. I’m Alright
5. Love Ain’t True
6. Another Beer
