JOHNNY TOUCH - Inner City Wolves

September 8, 2014, 9 years ago

(Shadow Kingdom Records)

Greg Pratt

Rating: 6.0

review hard rock johnny touch

JOHNNY TOUCH - Inner City Wolves

Australia's Johnny Touch love metal: check that amazing old-school cover art, and then take some time checking the sound, which arrives somewhere between grimy Dokken and polished '80s trad. 'Dishonourable Discharge' has some amazing fast thrash riffing in it, and it's hard to not get caught up in every tune's enthusiasm. But there is some awkwardness to it, the vocals not always quite hitting the sweet spot you'd hope for, despite the dude going for it in an admirable enough fashion, and sometimes the drama comes off as a bit clunky (see 'Black Company'). 'The Metal Embrace' (amazing title) has a magical '80s melodic hard rock opening riff, the kind of thing that High Spirits are currently riding high off of, and 'Bitch Of A Son' is the best song title in a long, long time (chorus: "She's a bitch of a son"). 'End Of Daze' has a ballad-esque intro that is not great, but still has some '80s magic to it. And 'Radiation Axeposure'? A guitar solo. Why not? So, none of the elements are amazing, but the spirit and love for classic metal is there, and that makes this one quite likable, despite its shortcomings. Good stuff for a debut, with tons of promise.

 



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