The Veins - Hollywoodland (Garage Pop)
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The Veins’ vocalist Dave Gentner used to be lead drawler in the brilliant flash metal suicides Uncle Sam back in the late 80’s, and his distinctive pop-sleaze delivery is alive and well in “Hollywoodland”. Despite the title, The Veins are straight outta hard-livin’ Rochester, NY, and their sound is melodic, soaring power-pop that’s dirty enuff for filth-fiends like me to freak freely on, yet sweet n’ gooey enuff to make girls swoon. Nice work, if you can get it. I should mention that their debut, “Glorious Sounds of the Veins” (1997) was a lightning rod amongst the sleaze-rock underground, traded and taped and worshipped accordingly by everybody that missed the similarly glammy thrills of Hanoi Rocks or wanted another heaping helping of the good stuff American Heartbreak were peddling, and even though it kinda seems like that was a fucking LONG time ago, I am happy to report that their lengthy absence has not hurt The Veins’ ability to construct the perfect pop song, or to play it like the entire world is falling apart all around them. For indisputable evidence, check out the title track, a rain-soaked slice of epic gutter-glam, or the motorcycle riffin’ cock rock of “Dandelion Blind”, or the heads-down sleazeboogie of “New Con”. Really, tho, I kinda defy you to find a duff track on here- sure, they had, like, 6 years to get it right, but if they release a whole new batch of tunes a week from now, yer gonna get the same results. The Veins simply play great rock and roll. If the idea of Ziggy Stardust reborn as a melancholy 80’s pop metal band makes sense to you- and it really should- then you’ve gotta check these long-time glamvets out. They’re the real thing, baby.
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