Vanity Ink are from Helsinki, and feature former Weirdorama mainmen Juha and Make on lead and not-so-lead guitars, which is a big deal to me, because I loved the dirty, black hearted sleaze rock of Weirdo. They’ve also got the shimmering beauty Stiina on vox, who can rock a skin-tight pair of hip huggers AND belt out an arena-ready hard rock number with equally grace and sex appeal. They started life a year or two ago as a Joan Jett cover band, but once they figured out that the world is not clamoring for JJ tribs, they began writing their very own melodi-rock tunes, and here we are, with their first official release (they had a pretty bitchin’ demo floating around earlier this year), a five song CD-EP of hard rock songs that straddle the thorny line between goth metal and Cult-ish arena rawk. Vanity Ink lean heavily on big poppy hooks, especially on the choruses, but since Stiina’s voice sounds haunted and heartbroken all the time, it makes for a very unique sound. Imagine if latter day 69 Eyes and Backyard Babies were the same band, only with a moody chick upfront, and you’ve got the rather icy and forlorn suicide glam of Vanity Ink. All five songs have their own depressive charms, but “Sweetest Addiction” and “Swept Aside” seem to linger in my brain the longest. Pretty good stuff, if you can keep yr head outta the oven.
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-Sleazegrinder