Album Review: Velvet Insane - “Rock ‘n’ Roll Glitter Suit”

 

Hailing from Finland, Velvet Insane are another band to add to the Scandinavian glam scene. Except while a lot of their compadres in this movement like the Backyard Babies and Hardcore Superstar are indebted to the '80s sleaze rock scene, these guys are setting their controls a little bit further back, namely to the junkshop glam of the '70s as evidenced by the Mott The Hoople style opener Driving Down The Mountain (complete with All The Way From Memphis style honky tonk piano). While we've had a few Italian bands coming along in this genre in recent years (Faz Waltz and Giuda to name but two), this is something a bit different from a nation best known for Hanoi Rocks and HIM.

They've clearly picked up a few admirers along the way as the T-Rex style Backstreet Liberace features the talents of both Dregen from the Backyards and Nicke from the Hellacopters while Sulo from the Diamond Dogs is on production here and helps out with some of the songwriting too. Unfortunately, Jaded Eyes which tries to take the tempo down a bit kind of misfires and ends up sounding a bit dull. Thankfully though Velvet Tongue kicks things back into gear with its pounding drums and strutting guitars (definitely a hint of the Diamond Dogs here) before Sound of Sirens sees them nailing the slowie formula a bit better with its mournful vocals and organ melding with the gentle acoustic guitars.

Riding The Skyways might have a title which brings the Replacements straight to mind but it's a Cheap Trick style riffed-up power pop stormer which turns out to be one of the strongest tracks on the album so far. Spin On Crazy Moon might just be an ode to the Who's late drummer but the sound is more akin to the swagger of Sticky Fingers era Stones which is no bad thing at all while Sailing On A Thunderstorm sounds like the missing link between the Faces and AC/DC and is another high point.

Midnight Sunshine Serenade is a bit of a curveball as it sees the band break out the acoustics for a campfire singalong (it reminds me of Tightrope by the Stone Roses for some reason) but it still works well in the context before the sax-honking Mott soundalike Space Age DJ and the Beatles-y You're The Revolution sign this one off well.

Rock 'n' Roll Glitter Suit isn't an original album by any stretch of the imagination but somehow through a good mix of variety, attitude and simply knowing what works and showing the necessary respect to the music they're pilfering from, Velvet Insane manage to get away with it the cheeky buggers. Quite simply, this is 40 minutes of good fun music which will have your toe tapping and your head nodding along and sometimes you can't ask for much more than that.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10) 

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