Album Review: Steve Conte - "Bronx Cheer"

 

It's been a good few years since we last had a new Steve Conte album to review, way back in 2014 with the NYC Album to be precise, and it's good to see the guy back again. Best known as the man who took on the unenviable task of stepping into Johnny Thunders' god-sized shoes in the 21st century New York Dolls line-up before moving on to Michael Monroe's band for the last decade.

The opening one-two here sets out the two sides of Conte's repertoire in good style with The Human Animal having a louche laid-back air to it similar to Mink DeVille (another who Steve has served with in the past) while Liar Like You is a furious fired-up throttle-to-the-max slice of punk which fair explodes out of the speakers.

It's a good taster for the rest of the album which blends light and shade to good effect - while the Johansen style strut of Recovery Doll and Those Sexy Lies show off Conte's glam rock influences, Wildwood Moon comes on like a pepped-up Buddy Holly ballad with the pounding drums and yearning vocals working well while the Springsteen-ish Overnight Smash is a well-aimed slice of anti-music business venom.

The only slightly weaker moments are the more drawn out blues rock jams of Flying and the Aerosmith-esque Guilty which drag a little bit to these ears but that might just be my personal taste and at least serve the purpose of varying the tempo up a bit and at least there's usually something like the upbeat '60s influenced power pop of former singles Dog Days Of Summer and Gimme Gimme Rockaway or the slinky My Degeneration waiting on the other side to pick the pace back up again.

Conte has done a good job here of putting together an enjoyable and varied album which shows off all of his facets as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Bronx Cheer is definitely a much welcome warm ray of Central Park sunlight to warm up those cold November nights.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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