The Shame Idols - I Got Time

This is one of the two albums that this Birmingham, AL group put out on Frontier - Rocket Cat being the other, which I will have to pull out, as well - and it is chock full of catchy tunes, loud guitars and rockin' rhythms - they way pop should sound!

Taking a concept from the Dictators' "Fireman's Friend", the Idols open with a comic-themed number, "Superman". This, as with most (all?) of the record is harmony-driven, punky-pop, ala bands like the Buzzcocks with some really fine, creative lead guitar work - and overall playing - throughout. The title tune, "I Got Time" is very 60's influenced and is a truly great song - well worthy of the title!

"Sun Ra" sounds to me like the Yum Yums and is about a friend taking acid at a Sun Ra concert - cool song fodder! There's some crazy catchy high speed pop in "Down in the Alley" and "Pretty Baby" is the closest thing to a ballad here, though could hardly be called that - just a bit slower and less intense than the rest. This is probably totally my imagination and strictly due to my background, but "Where I Want You" sounds to me like Grand Funk Railroad's "Into the Sun" on hyper-drive-pop. In "Thing" we get an insane guitar/drum breakdown/bridge that has some amazing playing and "Airhead" has some especially nice harmony work. "Not in the Way" almost has a heavy-metal riff to it (kinda reminds me of something from Danzig, actually!), but still plenty of melody on top of it but they return to pure pop for "Split", the finale.

And yes, that is Jamie Hernandez who did the cover for this and Rocket Cat!

Great pop and heavy guitars - who could ask for more?!

For more on the Shame Idols, check out this bio.