Damn, my innate prejudice against bands from Toronto is melting away. Crash Kelly force me to make comparisons to giants like T.Rex, Thin Lizzy, and Cheap Trick, with all such precursors made sloppy and superficial by a wayward youth spent listening to too much Hanoi Rocks. Suffice it to say Crash Kelly cover both Cheap Trick AND Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow on this album. This is some sweet, noisy bubblegum glam rawk and geddammit it's getting a lot of play at Chez Rads these days.
Here's an mp3 clip of
Penny Pills
And don't trust me, here's some words from the Not Lame site:
Quote:
New 2005 US version with bonus track(Cheap Trick "ELO Kiddies") and a video. Fantastically T. Rex void filling band from Canada whose "supercharged new rock stamped and blind-embossed with a knowledge and appreciation for Sweet and Kiss as well as new wave and original melodic punk of a heinously New York Nature"-Martin Popoff, BW&BW.
Think sticky sweet glam like T. Rex, Imperial Drag, Candy, Fuzzbubble and Thin Lizzy. Even a bit of new wavy Cars. There was a magical time in music where one could turn on their favorite FM radio station and be rewarded for their efforts with a stream of truly classic rock n` roll. the sounds of T-Rex melding into Thin Lizzy, or the Alice Cooper Group played back to back against a Cheap Trick album track. The 70`s era of rock n` roll was a time when the purchase of an album was a sacred rite of passage, the attending of a concert the equivalent of a mass religious experience, and the image and art of the rock n` roll performer married as one. Crash Kelly wants to take you back.......ladies and gentlemen, please adjust your Hi-Fi players for the next rock n` roll transmission.
"Blending Cheap Trick, T-Rex, Kiss and a touch of the Cars, Crash Kelly delivers a raw and energetic album with a Ramones attitude that is bound to turn a few heads (and ears)"-BraveWords.
"Richly textured yet exceedingly simple, Crash Kelly evokes T-Rex and Hanoi Rocks, yet somehow emerges sharper, focused, and more fun that his glam rock predecessors. Really. Crash Kelly is the working man`s Bolan... of the songs stand out on this album. Zero filler. When was the last time you could say that about a record?"-Sugarbuzzmag.com.
"A collection of rootsy, glammy rock n` roll songs that are equal parts 70`s glitter rock and insanely catchy powerpop, like, well, like the Malakas or Dramarama or Snatches of Pink or maybe Material Issue. Not that Crash Kelly sound all that much like those bands... I originally heard opener "She Gets Away" on the last "Bubblegum Slut" comp and the instantly memorable Ziggy-isms of the song have yet to lose their charm. Elsewhere, the Easdale-esque "11 Cigarettes" is a warm, melancholy rocker with some tasteful strings tossed in, "You Don`t Know" has the hooks and the snarl of vintage Alice Cooper band, "Irish Blessing 95" is an affecting, heartfelt roots-rocker with an appropriately Thin Lizzy-like guitar-hook, and...well, there`s plenty more where that came from."Sleezegrinder.
"Songs. Songs riddled with great tunes and dirty guitars. Looking for a point of reference? You`d be in the right ball park if you stuck Marc Bolan in the middle of Kiss circa Hotter Than Hell/Dressed to Kill, but that would be only half the story. The other half is in your head as you dream about whatever happened to rock n roll as a means to have fun and drive around at dumb-ass speeds with the top down."-BurnMag(UK). Extremely Highly Recommended