A couple of years back, Sweden unleashed their latest-greatest cultural export, Velvet Insane, an outrageously named glam band so hopelessly devoted to their glitter pop idols that they essentially transcended any rip-off allegations and became their very own thing.
To say they sound like Hanoi Rocks and Backyard Babies is so obvious that it’s completely besides the point. They’re basically the new version of both bands.
Anyway, here we are at album number two, and it’s a massive attack of stack-heel strutting, full of delightfully cheese-ball boa-scarf anthems like Backstreet Liberace (featuring Dregen from Backyard Babies and Nicke from Hellacopters), the 80s power-poppy Sailing On A Thunderstorm, sex-bleating rave-up Space Age DJ, and the piano-plinking Hellacopters redux Driving Down The Mountain.
You clearly know what you’re getting from this band, from the first Bolan-esque riff to the last tambourine shake. It’s about having a good time, all the time, and nothing else. And that’s alright by me.
