COSMOSQUAD
Squadrophenia
Marmaduke Records

Here's yet another rock/fusion instrumental CD from a very talented group of players known as Cosmosquad. The band features some well-known kats in the classic rock/metal realm. Bassist Barry Sparks and drummer Shane Gaalaas have performed with MSG and Uli Roth (Barry also did the last Dokken tour...for whatever that's worth) and guitarist Jeff Kollman has performed with UFO and continues to perform and record with vocalist Phil Mogg. Despite the poor production and mix (sign of a home-recording), the music delivers the goods. The music leans more toward fusion/jazz (although their live show definitely rocks hard!), with intricate time changes and such. What I find to be the true highlight of Saudroqhenia is the emotional fret-work from Kollman. The leads are well-written and his guitar literally sings, in the same fashion (and tone) as Gary Moore and Michael Schenker (it's no wonder he replaced Michael in UFO.) This is most evident on the track "In Loving Memory," which can't help but remind me of one of my favorite all-time instrumentals - "The Loner" by Gary Moore. Chris Poland (Ohm/ex-Megadeth) and Vinnie Moore also contribute some great lead work on the track "Jam For Jason" (a tribute to Jason Becker.) Apart from the poor production, this is yet another instrumental CD definitely worth checking out. BN

BROKEN TEETH
Guilty Pleasure
Killingbird

Broken Teeth is the "project" of vocalist Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys/Watchtower/Gahdzilla Motor Company.) There influence (or should I say obsession?) with the blusy metal from down under is overly apparent on this disc as they show more than obvious musical references to the mighty AC/DC...in fact, it seems more intentional than obvious. But they do it so damn well, without ripping-off, or "parodyzing" the band, they simply pay tribute to them. Unlike the AC/DC clone-bands from the '80s such as Rhino Bucket, Dirty Looks (Broken Teeth actually features former Dirty Looks guitarist Paul Lidel), and Junkyard that tried capitalizing on the Aussies at their prime, with major label releases with huge promotional and tour support, Broken Teeth are a fun project formed out of true love of Aussie greats like AC/DC and Rose Tattoo. The songs contain incredibly catchy, blusy, hard-rockin' rhythm riffs with signs of good 'ole southern rock (not surprising, they hail from Texas) hinting ZZ Top and Rose Tattoo. In fact, tracks such as "Crahlanding Affair" and "Second Hand" sound like Angry Anderson and his crew during the "Rock and Roll Outlaw" days, while punk-fueled tracks like "She Dances Evil" and "Chaingang" show traces of Angel City [yet another great Aussie band]. My favorites are Devil Money," "High On Danger" and "Hangin' By The Skin," each displaying incredibly catchy sing-a-long chants and hooky riffs.

On the CD sleeve, the band claims they wrote and recorded all the songs on this record in 2 weeks. The production is fantastic - live, raw and powerful...with loads of energy and balls. Broken Teeth can certainly give AC/DC a few pointers when it comes to the songwriting of their next record - let's face it, that band can use some of that youthful energy and motivation. This CD might be one of those hard-to-find items, if so, you can check out their website at: BROKENTEETH.COM. BN