Album review : KURT FROHLICH – 1977

June 2nd, 2024 by brianmc

Golden Robot Records [Release Date : 07.06.24]

Kurt Frohlich, currently vocalist with Riley’s LA Guns, has already fronted Faster Pussycat and Mark Ramone’s band.

Limited as that pedigree might be, it lets us know where he’s coming from.

1977 is the title of his debut solo album.

Deep inside a decade of transformative music, it was the year that saw the raw energy of Punk takeover the airwaves. The Clash, Television and the Sex Pistols all released their debut albums in that year.

Frohlich is obviously a devotee, who shows awareness throughout his album of just how subsequent decades continued to shape and form the genre, and its spinoffs.

‘I Don’t Want It’ and ‘Another Heartbreak’ fuse power chords with anthemic lyrics, effectively creating original material by percolating his punk tendencies through eighties Glam Rock.

And, with a knowing nod to punk culture and attitude, Frohlich fills songs, like ‘Sick In The Head’ and ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ with punchy tunes, spring loaded guitars and sneering vocals, a stripped down cultural response to semi permanent social concerns and anxieties.

Then, on other tracks, like ‘I Wanna Live In Space’ and ‘I Don’t Want It’, he has clearly taken the lessons learned by Weezer and Green Day in the nineties, when they preached melodic economy to any band trying to make a break through.

His zest for confrontational lyrics on the subversive, gonzo rock of ‘Fish Head’ sees the song’s infectious, poppy immediacy butting up against a much much deeper unease, bringing all of Frohlich’s musical and lyrical strengths together in a single track.

Album standout by a considerable distance. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)