On Friday, July 28, a new band emerged on the rock scene with the release of their brand new self-titled debut album.
Guitarist and singer Ryan Spencer Cook, guitarist Jeremy Asbrock and bassist Philip Shouse of the Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley band joined forces of their own to release an eight-song record of pure rock and roll.
The record which has a run time of 27 minutes contains everything that you would expect of a band that has conquered the world alongside Kiss’ biggest members.
The first track, “Can’t Stop the Train,” was first released as a single prior to the record coming out and it really is a great song, with an awesome driving beat.
Prior to this record, I had only heard Cook sing lead vocals to a handful of songs while I saw him play in Frehley’s band and have never heard a studio recording of him before. What I love about his voice after listening to this record is that he has a gravel-like quality. While his voice has a mean sound to it, it fits perfectly with the feel of the record and I personally wouldn’t want any other voice on this album.
“Can’t Stop the Train” is a really great song as I mentioned above and is probably one of, if not the strongest song on the entire record.
Track two, “Soul for the Gold” has a Kiss mixed with classic AC/DC from 1978. While the chorus screams AC/DC the riff has that Paul Stanley taste of grooviness which I enjoy.
“Soul for the Gold” has a very light heart feel to it when you compare it to the song that came before it and it’s a nice turn in direction.
Track three, “Rambin’ Gamblin’ Man” has a cool call-and-response chorus in which Cook sings that he’s a “Rambin’” to which the band responds with “Rambin’ man.” Following that, Cook states that he’s a “Gamble” to which the band then says he’s a Gamblin’ Man.” It has that “Sting Me” by The Black Crowes quality.
The next track that I loved on this record is track five, “When Trouble Finds You.” The chorus of “Whatcha gonna do when trouble finds you?” again has the call and response from the band has a handbag-like feel to the song. It truly has that summer feel to it where you can play this song in your car with the windows down while you’re driving around.
This song is definitely one of their better songs on the record and I would love to hear this song performed live.
The next track that I really enjoyed happens to be track six, “The Last Time.” This song has a lighter feel to it than some of the other mentioned songs in this article.
While it still has its hard rock roots which the band has cut its teeth on it could be played on classic rock radio like Q104.3 if they had an hour block where they played new music from new bands…. Now wouldn’t that be a cool segment, huh?
This song, which tackles the topic of love brings a lighter feel to songs that usually have a darker and or sadder feel to this topic.
I love how tight this band is. As I mentioned at the beginning, they have toured the world with Kiss co-founding member Gene Simmons and former original member of Kiss Ace Frehley but they also have played as individuals in other big bands.
Shouse when he isn’t with the Ace Frehley band tours the world with the hard rock/heavy metal band Accept while Asbrock played with former Motley Crue leading singer, John Corabi in his solo band.
These guys are seasoned rock and roll veterans and really put out a great debut record that I enjoyed a lot. I highly suggest giving them a listen because I was really surprised by how good this record was, you won’t be disappointed.
To wrap up this review, let’s take a look at The Singer’s Thoughts:
- I really want to see some solo shows with this band outside of them playing with Frehley, I think they would be able to back in fans that want pure rock and roll
- I think that cutting their teeth in other bands like Simmons, Frehley, and some of the other groups they were in really allowed them to hone in on their sound so that when they made a record they would know exactly what they wanted.
- I really loved their sound. It’s straight raw rock and roll which is fresh and it has this hunger which I really enjoy
Overall Grade: 7.5/10
Randall Knuth • Feb 13, 2024 at 3:12 pm
Just worked out to this album and loved it! Has that old 80’s rock band sound! Buying it!