Tommy And The Rockets
“Beer And Fun And Rock ‘n’ Roll”
New Trocaderos’ songwriter/producer Michael Chaney teamed up with Danish multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/rocker Thomas Stubgaard to make a retro beach party soundtrack. Guitarist Brad Marino (The Connection, The New Trocaderos) heard the demos and agreed to play drums and bandmate Geoff Palmer engineered the album. So the similarity to The Connection/Trocadero’s sound is intentional, but this is definitely different .
If you can imagine The Ramones playing The Beach Boys, then you got the formula right. The title track is an infectious hook driven single that takes no prisoners. “Here Comes Summer” is a bit more bubblegum with those “wee-ooh” backing harmonies, and innocent 60’s school boy lyrics. “Need Your Love” and “Silly Teenage Love” have the same percussive bounce and jangling riff structures. The next several tracks keep the quick tempos, gradually losing the backing harmonies as they start to resemble Radio Days. Despite the sense that we’ve heard this stuff a million times before, this is still an incurably addictive album. Highly Recommended.
Sons of Morning “Sons of Morning”
East Haven, Conn. band with a lot of classic influences; from The Rolling Stones to Lou Reed. It all begins with the unassuming “Outta My Head” featuring a simple bass guitar lead. “Way Beyond” is a slow 12 string, country blues tune and later its followed up by the ballad “He Wore Black,” about a performer wishing Johnny Cash would visit him.
The “side two” portion has more of a rock orientation, but it isn’t as memorable until we get to the impressive “Didn’t See The Man” where the boogie tempo picks up and the vocals of Tom DelFavero and H.Miller suit the style perfectly. Add to this a rockin’ guitar solo at the end and you’ve got something special.
