Pavement Princess: ‘First Night Out’
PAVEMENT PRINCESS
FIRST NIGHT OUT
Released on July 5, 2018 (Pavement Princess)
Review:
As with all aspects of life, we can be happy to know that a constant, at least for lucky me, is making the jaunt to the post box and having the joy of seeing that tell tale manila padded envelop with the potential to hold a little known musical treat within. Another “unknown but must own?” Definitely and such is/was the case when I happened upon the debut CD First Night Out from these two Dutch musicians and their collaborative effort band name — Pavement Princess.
Rene and Erwin apparently have been playing musicians for forever and a day, and happened upon each other in the musical circles they traveled. As fate would have it, they decided a collaboration was in order. One that would be a diversion from their current styles of play but one that would pay homage to where they came from, a style of melodic “hair-metal” they grew up on, fell in love with and influenced and embedded itself in their collective psyches. Rene and Erwin, as you will soon realize, are no less than masters at their craft. They both are multi-instrumentalists and are far superior than most who focus on a single discipline.
On first pass of the album, one can only sit back and appreciate the effort from the over the top harmonies, to the song craftsmanship, to the guitar driven (both rhythm and lead) efforts that weave this intricate tapestry of hard rock and glam metal. Certainly a heaping helping of early Stryper can be taken away from this album with both the guitar playing, vocals and that signature soaring metallic hard rock sound that is/was a staple for the Sweet‘s back in the ’80s. Pavement Princess have captured and then transformed this into their own. I also hear a good amount of the more glam fueled bands of the time in this effort, some Poison perhaps, at times some Danger Danger, Warrant as well…
The album was an all-inclusive effort for Erwin and Rene as they wrote, played and produced the lot so it is certainly an all-in effort on their part. Kudos to them both for taking and making the effort to put forth an album of very well performed melodic hard rock that should not disappoint even the most hardened haters of all new releases.
As for the specifics of the tunes, I am quite into “Daddy’s Crying” at the moment, as well as “Happy Ending” and the Poison-esque “Nothing But A Good Time” like “If That’s The Way You Want It” but then I am a sucker for those saccharine dowsed glam tracks. “Sweet Samantha” is a dinger as well with its “Fallen Angel” main riff and a chorus to beat all chorus but as you will figure out on your own, there is not a track on this debut that won’t tickle your musical fancy. That dreaded skip button will be non-existent as Rene and Erwin are the true dynamic duo on this effort, a musical dynamic duo, like if Simon and Garfunkel were Simon and Simon… Enjoy.
Track List:
01. Out On The Streets
02. Land Of Make Believe
03. Danger In Your Eyes
04. Happy Ending
05. If That’s The Way You Want It
06. Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them
07. Sweet Samantha
08. Daddy’s Cryin’
09. Lift Me Up
10. Your Favorite Rock Song
Band Members:
Rene de Bie – vocals, rhythm guitar, drums
Erwin Arbon – lead and rhythm guitars, bass, keyboards
Additional Musicians:
Nausikaa – saxophone (9)
Production:
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Pavement Princess
Band Websites:
Official Website
Facebook
Reviewed by Terry Martinson for Sleaze Roxx November of 2018
Pavement Princess‘ “If That’s The Way You Want It” video:
Pavement Princess – If That’s The Way You Want It
From the album ‘First Night Out’ (2018)For more information: https://www.facebook.com/PavementPrincessRock