Firestarter

After the dissolution of Japan's fantastically fun Teengenerate (named after a Dictators song - how could they possibly be bad?), Fink, Fifi and Sammy combined forces with drummer Jimbo to create the power-pop (with the emphasis on power) Firestarter. There is tons of punk energy here - they even cover Eddie & the Hot Rods terrific "Do Anything You Wanna Do" - mixed with truly well written tunes, some fine singing and creative, melodic guitar lines. They kept the explosiveness of Teengenerate, but gave it some finesse, a little more structure and more tunefulness.

This debut album shows that they did their homework before going into the studio, as every song is strong and the playing is tight but rockin' and there is little more that you could ask for from a power-pop/punk album!

There are lots of later, similarly named bands, so don't be fulled by imitators! Don't know if this has been released on CD yet, but worth searching out! (PS - I have to admit that I was friends with these guys and they even wrote a song about me - that appeared on a single, not on this album - called "Rich's Eyes", so you determine if you think I'm prejudiced!)