You might remember Thunderstick as the gimp-masked lunatic drummer from NWOBHM legends Samson. If you don’t, I suggest you read a history book.
After Samson frontman Bruce Bruce (Dickinson) flapped off to Iron Maiden, the mighty ’Stick (born Barry Graham Purkis) formed an eponymous band, and while their ’84 debut Feels Like Rock ’n’ Roll was an audacious and raucous display of horror-glam, the band never quite caught fire.
But the dream never died, and here we are, 35 years later, with a new line-up and a new album. How’s it sound? Like 1980, magnificently enough.
Thunderstick’s new vocalist, Lucie V (replacing classic-era frontwoman Jodee Valentine, who tragically passed away last year) sounds like a teenage Brian Connolly, and the band vacillate between the hard-hitting glam rock of late-era Sweet and the crunchy riffola of NWOBHM.
It’s basically the imaginary soundtrack to some long-lost VHS-era video nasty. Couldn’t be more true to form.
