backyard babies them xx

Released: 08 February 2010 Label: Spinefarm

I'll be honest... when the camp commandant passed me this album to review, she had to hit me a few times with the butt of her rifle before I even put the CD on my turntable - as a result my shoulder was so badly broken, I may never be able to use that arm again! I remembered the name, but not the music, from the tail end of the glam era (just before it was stomped half to death by grunge).

I would have said no to the review, but I'm simply not brave enough ...

... and I'm glad I didn't.

Not to beat about the bush - I never liked glam.

Not one bit.

Especially the OTT LA scene stuff - it all left me colder than a polar bear's gonads in the height of the winter. To me, a band like Poison had an LD50 of about two songs ... or one long CC DeVille guitar solo...

But for some reason, best known to the universe and utterly inexplicable to me, I actually quite like this. I think mostly because it is more punk influenced than most glam rock. Think Faster Pussycat and early Mötley Crüe rather than Poison and Warrant. This could never be interpreted as being "bubblegum" - it is "sleeze" through and through.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to backcomb my hair or wear more makeup than Dame Edna Everage. I'll likely never go to a Backyard Babies gig (mostly because a guy in a Death Angel shirt would stand out like a sore thumb). There is something "good time rock and roll" about this compilation which seems to defy my attempts to hate it with a passion.

OK, some of it is a bit simplistic and dated - the band is not going to win awards for technical proficiency... Well, except from the voters of Kerrang, I guess - but given the free lobotomies handed out with last month's issue I am not going to worry about them contradicting me.

All in all, this is a compilation that should interest genuine fans and the open minded. If you like your metal hard, heavy and aggressive, you'll probably want something else on the CD player.


by Kev McCarthy