Another winner in the Street Symphonies Records / Logic(il)logic stable, Hollywood Killerz was promoted as one of Italy’s greatest, with a killer combination of glam, sleaze, punk, hard rock and disco (?)…
Finally, we got our very own copy of Dead On Arrival, wondering if the buzz was worth it.
Opening track “700.000” is a fast-paced punch to the gums that establishes Hollywood Killerz’ quality. It sounds venomous, a bit like what Pretty Boy Floyd would sound like on speed.
Singer Harry sounds like a stripped down Steve Summers, with just a little more sting in the tail of his vocals, which are spit out more than sung. Combined with the no-frills, basic but great musical backing, Hollywood Killerz is a blast from the past.
They continue down this same road with “Grey Celebrations” and “Luxury Depression”, both great songs to get the general feel of the band, with very groove-based vocal lines that give the songs an extra nudge in the good direction.
“Girls R Dead” is a little gem, and most likely my top song of this album. It seems like everyone is going the extra mile to make this a song to remember. The fairytale-like lyrics, drenched in Harry’s raunchy vocals and that same, very effective, musical foundation, put this one in the must-listen section.
Time to slow down you say? “How (Could I)” does just that. After hearing this song, the 80’s nostalgic feel is complete. It might as well be made a few decades ago, this song sounds like it was created by the great pioneers of glam rock down on the Strip. Another one to check for sure!
Hollywood Killerz continues blasting hit after hit at you, all thriving on the same success formula: keep the music rough, keep the vocals rougher, keep the lyrical melody flowing… Good stuff once again, from “Going Down” on, the songs don’t sound that innovative anymore, but this album is just un-put-down-able.
“Somewhere Out Of This Mind”, “Over And Over”, “Lovecrash” and basically the rest of the tracklist, are all songs fit for underground clubs as well as much bigger venues, and affirms my love for Italian dirty rock. So many influences mixed together and given their own twist, Italy is looking like the next promised land for hard music.
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