Post by Mr. Sleazy on Aug 15, 2005 14:46:10 GMT -5
Anyone reading this who considers themselves fans of street-level Metal, or kick-ass Rock n' Roll, should be well familiar with the name "Circus Of Power". If you're not, well first you make me sick, and if I saw you in the street I'd give you the frowning of a lifetime! Second, you have missed out on some of the best music to ever surface in the late 80s and early 90s. During the period when Glam-Metal owned the mainstream, and Thrash and Death-Metal owned the underground, this New York band came out with a totally different sound. A blend of Metal and dirt-encrusted heavy Rock that would end up gaining them a small but loyal fan base made up of bikers, roughnecks, and every other tattooed freak to ever crawl out of the desert, or a New Orleans swamp. Because the band was so different compared to what was happening at the time, it was hard for the "suits" in the music industry to market and promote them properly. Their debut self-titled offering from RCA (which is, and I can't stress this enough, an absolute essential in your music collection) came with a big sticker on the front proclaiming them to be New York's answer to Guns N' Roses?
!! Nice try guys, but not exactly on the money. Anyway, those that were "in the know" at the time fell instantly in love with the band, but to the majority of hard music fans out there, they remained an unknown entity. After three full lengths, and a couple EPs, the band called it a day. Still today, as new fans learn of the band, the out of print debut CD regularly sells for $30 - $40 on ebay. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I'm getting to that. In 2003, ten years after the release of the last COP disc, "Magic And Madness", vocalist Alex Mitchell made his return to the world of music with two underground, low-key releases. First there was the "Plastic Gator Machine" CD entitled "Rock n Soul Music", and then there was "Uncle Max's Cosmic Band", with the excellently titled CD "Licking The Toad In The Black Church". Now, with guitarist Billy Tsounis from UMCB at his side, Alex is fronting yet another oddly named band, "Fat Nancy".
For review today I have their hot little three-song demo in my hands. The first thing any COP fan is gonna want to know right off the bat, is if it's similar to their favourite band's sound, or if Alex has reinvented himself, and now sings in some lounge act or a Nu-Metal band. The answer fortunately is a big fat YES, this is indeed very similar to COP. It's not a carbon copy, but it's got much of the same vibe. It's good ol' dirty, biker & saloon-friendly Rock n Roll, full of some of the catchiest grooves and hooks I've heard in ages. If any of the three tracks presented here were to have appeared on a COP release they would not have seemed overly out of place. First up is the instantly pleasing "American Monster". This is easily the best song of the three. It'll be echoing throughout your cranium for days, even if you just hear it played once. I can't see any old COP fan not loving this, it's simple, straight forward, and well ...f*ck, it almost brought a tear to my eye the first time I played it. It was both a simultaneous pang of nostalgia, and a glimmer of hope for the future. As Alex's unique vocals washed over me, it was all too apparent how much I've missed this man's music. The next track is "Green River", a ballsy little rocker written about Seattle's Green River killer Gary Ridgway, who murdered 48 women from 1982 to 1998. With its nasty subject matter, and one-two punch of a delivery, this is easily the edgiest track of the three, and again, as a COP fan, you really couldn't ask for anything better. Closing out the demo is a more traditional Blues-Rock number entitle "Sweet Judy Brown". The only fault I could possibly find here (and I have to look pretty hard) is that the song sounds a little too generic in nature. It's one of those laidback songs that you'd expect to hear from any unnamed band playing in the most out of the way, bourbon soaked watering hole you could find. Still, it's done in fine form, and fits the vibe perfectly. So, to some it all up for ya... Circus Of Power was a great band. If you don't own their CDs, you suck, plain and simple. Fat Nancy is also a great band, that while not sounding 100% like COP, will easily please old fans. What else can I say, somebody sign these guys for Christ sakes! For More info, check out fatnancy.com.
!! Nice try guys, but not exactly on the money. Anyway, those that were "in the know" at the time fell instantly in love with the band, but to the majority of hard music fans out there, they remained an unknown entity. After three full lengths, and a couple EPs, the band called it a day. Still today, as new fans learn of the band, the out of print debut CD regularly sells for $30 - $40 on ebay. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I'm getting to that. In 2003, ten years after the release of the last COP disc, "Magic And Madness", vocalist Alex Mitchell made his return to the world of music with two underground, low-key releases. First there was the "Plastic Gator Machine" CD entitled "Rock n Soul Music", and then there was "Uncle Max's Cosmic Band", with the excellently titled CD "Licking The Toad In The Black Church". Now, with guitarist Billy Tsounis from UMCB at his side, Alex is fronting yet another oddly named band, "Fat Nancy".For review today I have their hot little three-song demo in my hands. The first thing any COP fan is gonna want to know right off the bat, is if it's similar to their favourite band's sound, or if Alex has reinvented himself, and now sings in some lounge act or a Nu-Metal band. The answer fortunately is a big fat YES, this is indeed very similar to COP. It's not a carbon copy, but it's got much of the same vibe. It's good ol' dirty, biker & saloon-friendly Rock n Roll, full of some of the catchiest grooves and hooks I've heard in ages. If any of the three tracks presented here were to have appeared on a COP release they would not have seemed overly out of place. First up is the instantly pleasing "American Monster". This is easily the best song of the three. It'll be echoing throughout your cranium for days, even if you just hear it played once. I can't see any old COP fan not loving this, it's simple, straight forward, and well ...f*ck, it almost brought a tear to my eye the first time I played it. It was both a simultaneous pang of nostalgia, and a glimmer of hope for the future. As Alex's unique vocals washed over me, it was all too apparent how much I've missed this man's music. The next track is "Green River", a ballsy little rocker written about Seattle's Green River killer Gary Ridgway, who murdered 48 women from 1982 to 1998. With its nasty subject matter, and one-two punch of a delivery, this is easily the edgiest track of the three, and again, as a COP fan, you really couldn't ask for anything better. Closing out the demo is a more traditional Blues-Rock number entitle "Sweet Judy Brown". The only fault I could possibly find here (and I have to look pretty hard) is that the song sounds a little too generic in nature. It's one of those laidback songs that you'd expect to hear from any unnamed band playing in the most out of the way, bourbon soaked watering hole you could find. Still, it's done in fine form, and fits the vibe perfectly. So, to some it all up for ya... Circus Of Power was a great band. If you don't own their CDs, you suck, plain and simple. Fat Nancy is also a great band, that while not sounding 100% like COP, will easily please old fans. What else can I say, somebody sign these guys for Christ sakes! For More info, check out fatnancy.com.