Identity Crisis b/w Song For Lulu –Kevin K & Ricky Rat (Vicious Kitten)

If you had to ask: Kevin K is an indefatigable product of the halcyon New York underground rock and roll scene and one of a handful of the CBGB crew still standing and delivering. Ricky Rat co-founded Detroit’s Trash Brats, larger-than-life dealers of flash glam, and more recently a member of the Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz-led, reconstituted Dead Boys.  The pair spawned an album, “Party Store”, in 2020 and this single features two of its songs.

You shouldn’t be surprised that it rocks or that it’s on Vicious Kitten, the Aussie label that grew from the zine of the same name that variously championed Kevin K, his previous band the Road Vultures and the Trash Brats. The zine lives on in The Australian Rock Show podcast, by the way, and the record imprint has been revived after a 15-year hiatus to issue this seven-inch.  

Kevin K has never hidden his influences and he wrote both songs. With its Thunderesque vocal drawl and chugging riffs, “Identity Crisis” is indeed a classic Kevin K tune. Kevin and Ricky’s dirty guitars keep it street level and fatten the sound.

There’s a “Rocklin’ All Over The World” hint to the chords of “Song For Lulu” and more fretboard bump and grind as the guitarists play off each other. Mr K again takes the vocal on a song that’s glam without the gated drums and reverb production of the feted English bands. It’s what glam would sound like if they’d invented it in a Cass Corridor dive bar. It's driven by an engine room that’s effective but not flashy. 

If you're a fan you need it and if you're not, and you're into any of the above, then you probably do, too. Go here to order. That album by the duo passed me by so I'm off to correrct that little oversight.   

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