The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs - One More Drink

 OK, so full disclosure - I met the cats in the Cheetahs not long after they started playing in LA clubs and I have even played in the band on various occasions/tours/recordings, so keep that in mind here. For the first new album in 20 years (damn, how is that possible?) co-founders Frank Meyer (lead guitar/lead vocals) and Dino Everett (bass/vocals) have reconstituted the group with long-time drummer Mike Sessa, LA legend Bruce Duff (on second lead guitar/vocals - he and Frank are among the best git-players in the city) and sax maniac Geoff Veaton, along with several guest-star LA luminaries.

While there's plenty of old-time Cheetahs mania present in the songs, there's also a more pronounced power-pop presence - not that they haven't explored that territory in the past - and a mighty big SOUND. The production - Bruce and Frank are a successful production team, having worked with a wide variety of artists - is huge, powerful and just damn good. Loud guitars, lots of harmony vocals, driving, solid rhythms and some neat git/sax interplay.

The opening "Ain't It Summer" starts with waves of harmony-rich, acapella vocals building into the best Cheap Trick song that Rick Nielsen never wrote! From there the group moves from the aptly named, frantically paced "Fast, Fucked and Furious" to more power-poppin' in "Bad Vacation" (that includes a fun rave-up with a wild sax solo) and "We Are The Ones", there's pure punk'n'roll in "The Rejected" and "Rumblin' Train", "Let Me Out" is slower'n'moodier and kinda reminds me of Tom Petty's "Fooled Again" but with more grit, "Scorpio Rising" is pretty much a hep 70's rock'n'roll tune, while the title track brings us back to power-pop territory with catchy melodies and guitar'n'sax lines and some funny lyric-liftin', "Warzone" is a heavy-riffin' 70's rocker, "Switchblade Knights" has some coolly drivin' piano (care of Paul Roessler) and has a bit of a Redd Kross feel with some Kill City-styled sax wailin', and the final two cuts were released ahead of the album as a single with "Escape From New York City" sounding a lot like old-school Cheetahs, as does the frenzied tantrum of "Fuck the Future", with Frank spittin' out the words and slashin' out guitar licks.

Old Cheetahs freaks and fans of raucous punk'n'roll like later Hellacopters are all sure to dig what these cats are layin' down here. I'm sure that they're chompin' at the bit to get back into live gigs as soon as it's safe so pick this up and keep your eyes peeled for their return!