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I am about to review the first album of one of the most underrated bands in the history of music.
A little historical digression: we are at the dawn of the 80s, after the explosion of punk and the death of Lennon, there is a musical stalemate. From the cold of the Scandinavian peninsula, five defiant musicians start making their way, playing in clubs and living in the worst dives. Mike Monroe is the frontman of the group, with teased hair, lipstick, makeup, spandex, but also a lot of artistry. He studies piano and worships the New York Dolls. Andy McCoy will forge over the years a fierce guitar style unique in passion-dedication-curse. Their purely glam look and exuberance capture the attention of a generation that has not yet digested post-punk scabs and the sweetened ballads of disco music. The album in question is “Bangkok Shocks Saigon Shaker” which didn’t even brush against international success, something they only achieved with their fourth, “last true” album…underrated indeed. The ten compositions crafted by McCoy's exquisite taste merge extraordinarily with the pompous image of the frontman in a mix of glam-punk-street and rock and roll.
And now the songs…
It opens with “Tragedy” and its raw, evocative, and cutting riff, four minutes of furious rock characterized by an extraordinarily catchy chorus, and continuous liquid guitar phrasings. It is the song that exemplifies the band’s style, robust and essential, no frills, grandiloquent but effective.
If anyone has any doubts about Monroe’s sexuality, they should listen to “Village Girl” and they will be swept away. Despite the glam attitude, it seems that “good old Mike” hasn’t lost the habit of harassing girls, this fictitious ode to female purity is actually a way to… well, you get it. Musically, it has a rhythmic cadence almost like a tribal dance, with the usual singable and engaging chorus, but towards the end, the gem of Monroe’s piercing scream—seduction, excitement, and desperation in his strained vocal cords.
In “Stop Cryin” the story changes but only slightly; still the typical sound of the band, still Mike the seducer, here desperately trying to persuade a young woman to shed her underwear while the band keeps the sound on the brink before exploding with all the energy to accompany Mike’s exceptional sax solo. These kids have fun playing, and “Don’t Ever Leave Me” is further proof: it has very little of a ballad but it is indeed what it will become in the album and by extension in their discography. Much less rhetorical than many other hard rock or pop-metal scabs, it maintains a good rhythm, McCoy's solo is pleasant, and the finale with Mike whispering… “Is sweet to taste the lips between your legs...” is quite suggestive. These are the “Hanoi Rocks” take it or leave it, they play to live, to survive and their sole purpose in life is personal pleasure satisfaction. Side A ends with “Lost In The City” where the band seems to want to venture into the territory of early Mott the Hoople and naturally the “New York Dolls” a track with a frenetic rhythm, the guitar riff is epic and crazy at the same time, and ultimately makes you lose your head with its speed, bringing the album to an intensity it will not reach again.
Side B begins with “First Timer” which seems little more than a way for McCoy to show how many notes he can play... it’s a great filler, well played but nothing more. The intro of the next track “Cheyenne” is the classic thing you wouldn’t expect from guys like them, an acoustic arpeggio of baroque confidence worthy of the Stones’ Lady Jane, all seasoned with a thin layer of decadence from one of the sweetest harmonies before exploding into tormented chaotic rock’n’roll that kicks you in the butt. They tried to show they can do more than just make noise and I’d say they succeeded.
The next track, “11th Street Kids” is in my opinion, along with “Tragedy”, the best on the album and I’ll explain why: the guitar motif that accompanies it is crazy, I know, but there’s something in this damn song that moves me, it has authentic nostalgia and melancholy, moments of life that resurface “Remember all the nights we wrote on the walls that punk never die”, “Remember all the nights and days we spent underground”.. the sadness of those who, willingly or not, remain alone like a dog in the city they love, the sadness of those who have gone away forever, and the awareness that even though “here accidents happen every day” I’ll never leave 11th Street. Beautiful, sincere, moving, let’s set aside for a moment the skill of technically perfect show-offs which isn’t here, let’s just listen to the music, damn it!
The album could have ended here because the next two tracks “Walking With My Angel”, a cover by Gerry Goffin, and “Pretender” add nothing except confirming the fine work Monroe is capable of on the saxophone, an instrument somewhat unusual for the genre.
It is difficult to define the genre of the sound pumped out by these five guys; let's say that from a historical point of view they represent with their Nordic-European peculiarities a link between 70s punk/glam and 80s street scene, of well-known bands that sucked creative juice from these five rascals there are many… especially Guns n Roses and Motley Crue.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Tragedy (04:07)
Well the music's slowly dying and I'm jumping outta my jeans
I jump into the bed, you're there already waiting for me
Ain't this a perfect way to spend the night
There ain't no better way of killing time than loving you
Be sure of that I do
It's reached top speed and I'm getting inside of you
Well this is hot stuff mama, taste it, it sure tastes good, oh yes it does
It's may be cold outside but in you the fire is burning
And when you bite me babe love is hurting
Tragedy, life reminds me 'bout a symphony on the radio
First a little bit too fast and then a little bit much too slow
Tragedy, life reminds me 'bout a symphony I heard today
First a little bit too fast and then a little bit much too slow for me
I wake up in the morning and I feel the pain in my head
If it's the rest I need I'd rather be dead
No destinations in this life I live
No expectations, I just drift and drift and drift
Life is like
Tragedy, reminds me 'bout a symphony on the radio
First a little bit too fast and then a little bit much too slow
Tragedy, life reminds me 'bout a symphony I heard today
First a little bit too fast and then a little bit much too slow for me
02 Village Girl (03:07)
You look like a village girl to me
But you stepped into my life from a magazine
You were like a village girl to me
But you walked into my life off the record machine
Oh village girl, village girl
Yes, you sure make me hot
You can't imagine all the things I'd do
If I'd only get a night to share with you
If I call you, tell me would you come, Baby
Would you try me and check out
How good, how good I really am
You became a legend in my life
When I saw you in a picture topless, you were topless, Mama
Oh yes, your music means a lot to me
But your face and your body, they drive me crazy
The only love that exists to me is sex
And thats what i'd like to share with you
My imagination always runs away with you
When i'm with any of my girlfriends i imagine i'm with you
And the morning after when I had left yeah
The only thing between us two would be the memory
Just one time, oh check how good, how good i really am
03 Stop Cryin' (03:55)
Sweet Seventeen, Your face is from a beauty magazine, yeah , Yes it is Sweet Seventeen, Your body's an oasis for sex dreams, yeah It's sometimes hard to understand what you mean That's when you think nothing matters to me but I'm tryin' so hard to understand, It's not that easy being your man You know that I know you'll leave me soon And I know that you know I been thinkin' of it, too Sweet Seventeen , It hurts me whenever you are gone Sweet Seventeen, You really know how to turn me on, turn me on, girl Alright, Please stop cryin' , 'Cause the whole worlds cryin' with you Please stop cryin', 'Cause the whole worlds cryin' with you Oh yes, the whole worlds cryin' with you I don't wanna lose you, and I hope I never will I don't ever wanna lose you after all these years It took a long time to find out who you are, It took even longer to get this far 'Cause there's been bad times, too, Aside of the laughter, yeah But I hope and think we make it somehow We're gonna make it, make it if we really try Make it if we really try, oh, Blow your horn Mike My dreams so
05 Lost in the City (03:49)
Take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City boys stole my car
City girls stole my heart
Now won't you take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City boys stole my car
City girls stole my heart
Stole my heart, yeah
Well I been in trouble since I don't know when
Never got no money to pay my rent
The city life hits hard on me
But I gotta keep on tryin�
Gotta keep on lying to myself
One day I will make it
And I'll become a wealthy man
I'll make as much money as I can
And I try so hard,
Try try try so hard
Try so hard, yeah
Take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City boys stole my car
City girls stole my heart
Now won't you take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City girls stole my car
City boys stole my heart
Yeah yeah yeah
It's cold and it's rainin�
I'm not happy at all
As much as I can do what I want
Yeah
Alone in the night
I lie back, I'm feelin� like a wretch
I know I'll survive here
Somebody, somebody, somebody,
Somebody, somebody, somebody
I'm really gonna make it get high
Take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City boys stole my car
City girls stole my heart
Take me down to the way back home
I lost all my money now I'm all alone
City boys stole my car
City girls stole my heart
Stole my heart, yeah
07 Cheyenne (04:00)
Part I
I don't wanna hurt you, I don't wanna see you cry, I don't wanna hurt you once more
I don't wanna leave now, I don't want no sight for sore eyes
Gone sore of all the tears that we cryed
Part II
Hey, come here with the guitar! Okay?
Recall the times we met - so wild and free
We had our ups and we had our downs
But the sweet sweet rock'n'roll always played on the radio
We grew up and we learned the rules
You gotta fight to win otherwise you'll lose
Oh Cheyenne, you imprisoned me in liberty
Never ever showed me no sympathy
Remember that nite, how you made me cry,
I almost lost my mind
When it appeared that the winner was you and the loser was me
That nite, that endless lonely nite...
I just can't think of you, with another man
Oh Cheyenne, you must understand
So stay right where you are, I'll pick you up anyway, any day around I'll be with you
So you don't have to worry, you don't have to worry, Baby, don't you worry no more
You told me that I'm to sensitive but I didn't ask for sympathy,
All I wanted was to love you softly
With the sweet, sweet rock'n'roll played on the radio
I tried hard to fight my feelings down
I tried to hide 'em inside, tried to push your love away
But you must have seen the fire burn in my eyes - and it's still burning!
It's hard to believe we lived it through, I can't believe we can't relive it
But if you see me walking down the street
Just raise you window to the sweet sweet sound of rock'n'roll
Sweet, Sweet sound of rock'n'roll
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Other reviews
By VxS
It kicks off with Tragedy, a sort of flag for the sound of the band... it’s all there: the driving drums, the mini solos, Monroe’s screams, and that strange mood that makes you want to jump around, get drunk, and pick up an American movie doll.
And now you know what to play at the next party, borrow some lipstick and eyeliner from your girlfriend, pass the whiskey and... let’s play Hanoi Rocks!
