Pretty Boy Floyd
A Tale of Sex, Designer Drugs and the Death of Rock and Roll

Once you rock, you can't stop.

Borrowing the Pringles advertising claim, I come up with a silly little phrase that, however, well describes the initial discouragement and subsequent desire for revenge of all the glam rock bands that were swept away by the usual grunge incident and that have proudly returned to the scene after a short time.

Here we are in the genre underground. The Pretty Boy Floyd are a Hollywood band devoted to the most uncompromising and fundamentalist glam rock. There were namesakes (or rather clones?) in Canada, but they only had space for one album, at least under that name, as they later had to change it under threat from California gangster lawyers.

The band made a good debut in 1989 and made headway even in the European circuit, especially in Great Britain, associating their name with artists on the level of Quireboys, eternal promises of a glam revival that never fully materialized.

But then nothing came of it; everyone went their separate ways. And yet, a band like this, bold and brash, given to profuse excesses, fearless exhibitors of a 100% glam style in both clothing and makeup - practically aggressive and outlandish drag queens - represented the purest resource upon which others' work rested.

Perhaps for this reason, in 1995, with the EP on the agenda, in a truly rather unfortunate period - strategically speaking - the group, revamped with seasoned musicians, confidently decided to dust off their sparkles and street-savvy logo to jump back into the fray. The hoped-for success was missed once again, and, fortunately in my opinion, the Pretty Boy Floyd remain confined to an underground without an exit route.

The reasons are easy to understand. 5 tracks are too few after all this time. Of the 5, only one was worthy of being released. A single should have been made, focusing all efforts on it while taking the time to produce a proper full-length album. But there it is. The track is "Junkie Girl", a punk spoiled with glam scary cool, shot at breakneck speed and made damn catchy by guitar riffs that set the standard. The overall musical offering is interesting. The production is so acidic that it seems to ooze fuchsia liquid from the stereo once the CD is inserted. Before the described track, there's the opener "Shut Up", classifiable, borrowing a term from a "funny" site, as gay metal (!!!) in which sweet harmonies from a glossy manga moment are brutalized by street inserts. EPs are never without covers, and here there's one from the Big Bang Babies - "Everybody Needs a Hero" - which turns out to be plasticky and not too passable. Following that is another dud track like "Do You Love Me", while the PBF close safely with "Good Girl Gone Bad", worthy of a street-form Motley Crue, mannered but tough and retro in just the right measure.

It's easy for me to give this work a rating. I have 5 stars at my disposal for 5 songs. 3 are good, 2 are not, and problem solved.

Highly recommended for those who want to explore "Taliban" street glam. An eye should also be cast on the first two works of these crazy bastards.