Reviews by Phil Rainone
The
Love Me Nots - Detroit (Atomic A Go Go Records)
Baby, This is Rock ‘N’ Roll!
The Love Me Nots (great name), create a blend
of harmonic and hormonal old school rock and
roll on “Detroit.” Their musical
style is a genre onto it’s very own,
blending raw blitzkrieg guitars with heavy,
heavy beats and bass, all lined up perfectly
under solid vocals. These guys seemingly live
what they spit at you- raw and consistent,
this a band who will not bend to the pop rock
times, refusing ridiculous hip hop hybrids,
or emo crying- and I say good for them!!
The 13 songs on their garage-molded new album
is best heard on vinyl. The vinyl is pure
white, and is 180 grams of some of the some
of the most wonderfully amateurish, adolescent,
and enthusiastic ( and you know I mean that
in a good way), music. The Love Me Nots’
keeping the songs short, simple, and sassy.
Primal, cellar- dwelling production ( another
good thing), provides the proper Neanderthalic,
garage rock setting for an, anyone-can-play-rock-and
-roll vibe.
But don’t let the unfinished veneer
and sweetly off-kilter harmonies scare true
blue, indie punk fiends. The Love Me Nots
put all their hooks in all the right places
without sounding contrived, or droney. The
drum beat anchors an exploding bass line that
hold the melody in place, while the guitars
and vocals are allowed to build on the mojo
that the rhythm section lovingly develops
in every song. The Love Me Nots are A-list
ambassadors of heavy, garage rock! - Phil
Rainone
Darren
Decide - The Jersey Devil is Here (everreviledrecords.com)
Keith Kenny Meets Lenny Kravitz, and
They Hitch a Ride to John Lee Hooker’s
House to Shoot Pool and Jam!
Any time you conjure up The Jersey Devil,
like oh, say Springsteen did on his Halloween
release of the single “A Night With
the Jersey Devil” (Bruce performs a
menacingly, spooky, Bo Diddley beat tirade),
you’d better be able to up the ante
on the song, adding to the legend.
Darren Decide creates a slow, bluesy, cadence
to his creepy, cool sandpaper vocals, on his
homage to the horned-one, on The Jersey
Devil is Here. The whole album is full
of mysteriously raw, and knock-you-out blues
rock. “The Cocaine Song,” “Ms.
Liberty Blues,” and “The Infidelic
Boogie,” give lyrical support to Darren’s
emotional vocals. The latter song covers lots
of stylistic ground, while remaining sharp
and structured. Bare-boned yet atmospheric,
“The Jersey Devil is Here” is
totally fresh, and beyond nostalgic. - Phil
Rainone
CD Reviews 
