Love Cream – First Taste
LOVE CREAM
FIRST TASTE
Released December 20, 2013 (Love Cream)
Track List:
01. Open For Business
02. B.D.L.
03. Spend The Night Together
04. Hot In The Dark
05. Love Train
06. Sweet May
07. Woman (I’m Gay For Your Lovin’)
08. Why Not Me?
09. Smokin’ Bitch
10. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
Band:
Vinnie Dynamo – vocals
Nick Robinson – guitar
Sexy Phil Parker – bass
Mick Gallo – drums and vocals
Production:
Produced by Casey Jones and Matthew Hills.
Review:
Maybe it’s something in the Aussie blood, as writing good rock n’ roll music seems to come easy to this nation since AC/DC rose to heights. Love Cream is a young and very talented new band that sound nothing like AC/DC but do incorporate many elements of classic rock into their sound. And speaking of sound, the band’s debut album First Taste was produced and engineered by that other young Australian musical genius Casey Jones, of De La Cruz fame. First Taste has that clean, pristine big production sound that just serves to amplify the fun hooks and melodies this stellar album has to offer — if you’ve heard De La Cruz‘s 2013 album Street Level you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The song writing on First Taste focuses on strong melodies laid over infectious guitar riffs but done with a level of sass and grit. The band claims to be ‘bringing the balls back to rock’ and this can be heard in their lyrics with song titles such as “Open For Business”, “B.D.L.” (which apparently stands for ‘back door lover’), “Love Train” and “Smokin’ Bitch” — balls indeed! This is not a milk-and-cookies rock outfit, and because of the strong emphasis on melody I’m sure most North American music critics will instantly label Love Cream as ‘sounding ’80s’ but the influence is more from ’70s classic rock than anything else from a later decade.
Hearing lead singer Vinnie Dynamo belt out his song choruses alongside back-up vocalist and drummer Mick Gallo sounds very close to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry together on classic Aerosmith hits. Lead guitarist Nick Robinson was classically trained starting at age 11 and it stands out quite nicely with spectacular solos throughout First Taste. The monster riffs are borrowed from ’70s KISS-era dominance and some song structure influences I hear are from UFO‘s harder moments. There is some musical diversity on the album as well, hearing some Faces or Rolling Stones influence on “Hot In The Dark” and the semi-ballad “Sweet May” while a Deep Purple groove can arguably be heard in “Woman (I’m Gay for Your Love)”. For the hard core rockers out there don’t worry, as the rest of the album is hard hitting rock n’ roll.
With the strong emergence of rap, techno dance music, boy bands and lip-syncing pop garbage, I feel that globally we missed out on pretty much an entire decade of kids growing up listening to rock. I’m clinging to hope that the next generation, who seems to be currently listening to their parents’ rock, are the saviors we need to rely on to keep rock alive. Love Cream might be among that first wave of kids just old enough to crank out their brand of hard rock, win over some major labels, and make a nice dent in the near future.
Band Websites:
www.lovecreamband.com – www.facebook.com/LoveCreamBand
Reviewed by Mark Hovarth for Sleaze Roxx, January 2014
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