I Wanna Live Before I Die b/w Let Me Go – The North Hollywood Phantoms (Heavy Medication Records)
Los Angeles supergroup The North Hollywood Phantoms make an immediate impact with their debut single, which is an original on the A side and a Stones cover on the flip.
Guitarists Loren Molinare (The Dogs, Little Caesar) and Richard Duguay (Personality Crisis, Duff McKagan, The Beautiful Decline) and vocalist Pat Todd (The Lazy Cowgirls, Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders) form the band's core which should tell you most of what you need to know.
“I Wanna Live Before I Die” is a roaring rock and roll tune with Todd’s characteristic blues shouter wail and a scything guitar lead outro doing the business as it spruiks a sentiment that anyone who hasn’t died before they got old can relate to.
A hooky chorus draws you in and is proof positive (if needed) that having been around the blovck a few times is a virtue when it comes to Real Rock and Roll. If this a taster, bring on an album.
“Let Me Go” from “Emotional Rescue” is a surprise choice for a B side, being a weak song from a so-so album. In the hands of The North Hollywood Phantoms, however, it sprouts fresh legs, thanks largely to Molinare and Duguay’s duelling six-strings, Todd’s heavy-duty, Indiana-via-London vocal drawl and some wonderful backing vocals from Paula Tiberius (aka Mrs Duguay and a filmmaking talent in her own right.) 
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