Kissin’ Dynamite – Money, Sex & Power

KISSIN’ DYNAMITE
MONEY, SEX & POWER
Released on March 23, 2012 (AFM Records)

Track List:
01. Money, Sex & Power
02. I Will Be King
03. Operation Supernova
04. Sex Is War
05. Club 27
06. Dinosaurs Are Still Alive
07. She’s A Killer
08. Sleaze Deluxe
09. Ego-Shooter
10. Six Feet Under

Band Members:
Hannes Braun – vocals
Ande Braun – guitar
Jim Muller – guitar
Steffen Haile – bass
Andreas Schnitzer – drums

Review:
One of the problems with retro-glam/sleaze albums that attempt to incorporate modern rock, pop punk, or — God forbid — post-grunge influences into their sound is that the combination is usually divisive in terms of a quality product, essentially just splitting the difference without really synthesizing the music into a product that can stand on its own strength. So say you what you want about artists that seem frozen in amber circa 1987, but there’s a reason that formula was once huge — it was honed over the course of the ’80s into a fine artform, and if you’re going to fuck with that template you’d better have the chops to pull it off. Otherwise I’d just as soon see you put your energy into quality songwriting rather than trying to reinvent a wheel that’s already perfectly balanced, and with plenty of tread left on it at that.

Germany’s Kissin’ Dynamite hit the latter approach, boasting a brash-yet-familiar blend of stadium rock combining a sleaze edge with pop hooks and sing-along choruses — singer Hannes Braun sort of sounds like a biker bar version of Firehouse‘s C.J. Snare (a lot better combination than the description reads on paper).

Currently on album #3, the years spent honing their craft has started to pay off handsomely for the band. Kissin’ Dynamite wouldn’t have been as huge as Whitesnake or Motley Crue if they’d have been around in the ’80s, but with a seasoned mentor of a producer (i.e. Mutt Lange) guiding them they could have easily been in a league with second tier acts like Slaughter or the aforementioned Firehouse.

Would be hits like the title track “Money, Sex & Power” and “Sex Is War” prove this Teutonic quintet have the hooks to get the fists pumping. As those song titles will attest, lyrics are at best perfunctory and often even groan inducing, but there is always a killer melody to redeem even the likes of a song called “Dinosaurs Are Still Alive”. That said, with the exception of “Club 27” — referencing the mythical club where all the rockers who cashed out at age 27 presumably rub elbows — this is all full blown party music that isn’t meant to be taken seriously. There isn’t even a single sappy ballad to be found, which is frankly refreshing in its own right. Kissin’ Dynamite are a talent to watch.

www.kissin-dynamite.de – www.facebook.com/Kissindynamiterocks – www.afm-records.de

Reviewed by Jeremy Ulrey for Sleaze Roxx, May 2012

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