Smelly Boggs
Smelly Boggs

THE REVIEW

SMELLY BOGGS - SMELLY BOGGS (1999, SELF)

TRACK LIST:

01) ONE DAMNED REASON
02) PARTY GAY
03) SEXY TELEPHONE
04) STILETTO STRUT
05) THE DAY OF THE SHIT
06) KATTY
07) DIRTY LITTLE BABY
08) LESBO GENERATION
09) BATHROOM
10) FORBIDDEN DREAM
11) SMELLY BOGGS

This album undoubtedly represents the best work ever published in Italy in the glam-sleazy rock field.

The Smelly Boggs, led by the brilliance of the phenomenal guitarist Emil Bandera (a constant presence for years in the line-up of the never too celebrated Death SS, the undisputed sovereigns of Italian metal), produce an excellent album, a worthy fruit of the band's musical background, associating the traditional influences of Los Angeles street metal (Guns n' Roses, Motley Crue, Ratt, Warrant et similia) with precious old-school hard rock reminiscences, blues hues, and an irreverent spirit worthy of the punk rock proposed by Generation X from Billy Idol.

The Tuscan group manages to churn out convincing riffs in industrial quantities, capturing the attention of a fairly large fan base and succeeding in the not-so-simple task of stirring the murky waters of the Italian underground rock. In addition to the already known qualities of the axe-man Bandera, the band surprises with the impact of its rhythm section and the remarkable vocal range of singer Mark Ramsex. The explosive mix that results allows these young musicians to export their fame even in the far-reaching States: the song "Sexy Telephone," in fact, is included in a compilation licensed by the American Delinquent Records, "The pink and the black," featuring among others glam bands of the caliber of Pretty Boy Floyd and D'Molls.

The album "Smelly Boggs" contains great songs like "Party Gay," an engaging track with a truly overwhelming chorus, "Lesbo Generation," characterized by Daisy's speed drumming, the lethal "Bathroom" and the vintage "Stiletto Strut," a faithful reinterpretation of a classic by the American Alleycat Scratch. Emil Bandera's group manages to create an undeniably interesting work, capable of competing on equal terms with the contemporaneous productions of far more renowned bands like Roxx Gang, Warrant, and especially Buckcherry, who were protagonists of a second, decidedly uninspiring recording episode ("Time Bomb"). The success of this work at the underground level has the merit of showing Italian audiences that even from our parts, it is possible to make high-level records, despite having a limited budget and having to fight against a mass musical "culture" still today reluctant to fully embrace the overwhelming energy of glam rock.

Though the regret remains of no longer being able to witness the exploits of this impressive ensemble, the indomitable spirit of the Smelly Boggs lives on in their natural heirs, Black Hill, a sleazy band from Leghorn that has been able to inherit the genetic baggage of such illustrious predecessors by pouring their talent into the creation of the excellent album "Nasty Nights" (2005), a direct offspring of the native sleazy tradition wonderfully inaugurated by Bandera and company.

(Enrico Rosticci)