Satan's Luau

Brand New Sin - Self-Titled: B+/A-

Brand New Sin comes from a wonderful underground label called Now or Never records from Jersey ... you're on the net, and yeah they are too ... Yaaaa-hoooo- oooo!!!

BNS is the band that you wish there were more of in this day of 50 cent, JLo flashdancing, Fred D. yakking about how his band is sooo tight, and Missy Elliot -- will you just shudda shuddy shudda up

BNS is just a real straight forward riff-oriented rock band ... something to play loud, that has nice hooks, good crunch ... nice nice nice hard rock

Actually, I've been thinking that there is something to the thought that the Seattle sound of the early 90s driving hard rock and commercial metal under

I mean, really? Did anyone want to say ... yeah sure, I still listen to AC/DC, Maiden or Priest (or GNR will be out soon with Chinese Democracy and kick all these flannel punka--es ... ha) ... no, most everyone just shut up and listened to Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains --- though true fans like Joe Dirt kept the fire alive ... yes, some grunge is rocking but although a larger sized piece of clothing fits, the right size clothing fits perfect

BNS is the new hard rock you've been waiting for (that perfect fit) ... by perfect fit I mean, nice new clothes, not some well-fitting 1983 Members Only jacket ... a band to take the torch from jurassic rockers Aerosmith, AC/DC, et al. ... some one young to play in the same stylings, actually well versed in what makes the hard rock sound such a potent sounding form of music, and then stamp it with some modern sensibilities

What you may notice first off is the THICK sound of this band ... their sound is really rich, THREE GUITARS ... some may say they win the Outlaws guitar attack award ... or the Iron Maiden "one more guitar on stage" is fine prize --- the result is a nicely complex mix of guitar sounds creating a true hard rock wall of sound ... they probably sound really good in concert

The disc begins with BROKEN SOUL which has been heavily played by hard rock formats nationwide, including our PURE ROCK friends at KNAC.COM ... this one screams HIT ... straightforward driving power riffage in the gallop style, Joe Alteri's voice sounding like he's been wailing the vocals since age 2 (he has a really smoking voice --- and I haven't said that since the last time I talked about Chris Cornell ... this guy has a great heavy rock voice but not quite the acrobatics capability of said Mr. Cornell) ... his vocal style is growly but clean ... no screech, no scream, and thank the Lord, no cookie monster ... and the SOLO, wow, someone still can lay out a MELODIC harmonic power rock solo

MY WORLD is a nice contrast to the opener ... this song has also received heavy push by rock radio ... including hometown KPOI here in suntanville ... a nice slow bluesy grinder with vocals that are great in their soulfulness, purpose, and understatedness

MISSIN' YOU is a dirty country-oriented, last song of a stripper's set bluesy power ballad (Kid Rock should get out pen and paper and take notes) ... and probably the best song on the album ... There's some Southern rock sounding bands out there that pick and choose, this one is unashamedly Southern rock for the next generation ... its almost fresh to listen to the three guitar harmonic blended styles (one acoustic, one rhythm electric, and one slide) with Joe's vocals really dropping the heavy emo from singing clear lines to really howling out a bluesy chorus ... sometimes its not enough to Creed or Nickelback it and go nu-rock ballad ... its AMAZING to hear a f--k--g tight slow song because of the simple artistry in that lost art form

S.P.P. (a real skyquaker with a catchy singalong chorus) and DID YOU? (straight chugger) are great examples of this band's ability to play nice homestyle comfy chug with great solid bluesy tradeoff solos --- and WOW do they sound great, not chug for chug's sake

DESPERATE TIMES/DESPERATE MEANS and CHANGES (I love this one a lot) are both are nose to the grinder power rock with a great midtempo riffs and breakdowns in the bridges and choruses that are so ficken good, then SHATTERED expands on the ideas of these songs by clearly using of Metallica Capn Crunch riffs that make for a stunning heaviness in a catchy hard rock tune

SAD WINGS is country fried hard rock and features cool vocal harmony ala arena rock over a dirty bluesy riff. THE OATH is BNS's offering up of some classic style hard rock that is really pure and righteous .. to me, not the best song of the album but it does what it should --- wallop the hell out of your ears

In the final analysis, its not a new sound ... you've heard elements of it all your hard rocking life ... what it is a tight study of hard rock fundamentals and theory that pulls heavy on blues and on classic hard rock structures ... and the student does a hell of a good job then putting its own twist on it --- creating its own sound

Creating their own sound in the land of tired nu-met korniness and limpness and nu-rock "Creed"-ches ... admittedly the production is not necessarily there ... so this doesn't sound like Dr. Feelgood or the Black album (AC/DC or Met, you pick) ... but should someone like a Bob Rock, Mutt Lange, or Mr. Def Jam get a hold of these guys ... watch out, because they already sound like a jet taking off ... and that's a good thing, it may even make you buy the CD remasters of your hard rock and metal cassettes of the late 70s and 80s ... in other words, bands like this give hope to the hard genre and expand on the American tradition of good heavy devil music (even though there is no mention of the dark one and his luau here ... ha)

Where is my Chinese Democracy?!?!?! ... well, you don't need it anymore