Well recommended for fans of 80s melodic hard rock.
In the world inhabited by Criss Sexx and his band Nympho, Poison and Def Leppard are on constant play on MTV and KISS are still Gods of the airwaves. But hey, stuck in the 80s is not such a bad place to be, especially if you come from Brazil where the sun is constantly shining and you have all the coffee to hand one could ever need.
The 2016 Olympic Games are being held in Rio, and there is already talk of how the Brazilians could ever hope to top the amazing UK opening and closing ceremonies, what with football, coffee and slavery being their main historical offerings. Well, they could do a lot worse than have Nympho live on stage at some point, as their wonderfully infectious brand of 80s rock n’ roll would surely get the people on their feet. Opening track ‘X-Rated’ is a blend of Danger Danger and Poison, with an immediate chorus that just screams out for the big stage. ‘Treat Me Like An Animal’ riffs on KISS’s ‘Heaven’s On Fire’, and when you read that Paul Stanley and KISS are Sexx’s biggest influence, it all becomes clear. ‘I Am Hate’ sees Twisted Sister getting down with Def Leppard at a night club, while Joan Jett hangs around in the background, looking pretty.
In interviews, Sexx claims he doesn’t want Nympho to be seen as simply a glam band, as he hates pigeon-holing, seeing the band more as a flavour of 80s hard rock, and he certainly proves his point here with the wonderful ‘I’ll Come Running’, very much melodic rock in the Firehouse vein, all nice backing vocals (all four guys sing!) and nice keyboard flourishes. ‘Rock Me Hard’ sees some serious hard rock riffage and sweet solos, and while only 2:45, ‘Here Comes Trouble’ might be short on time, but is big on balls! Of course, not everything is so successful, with ‘Dreams Are Not Enough’ being a failed attempt at (possibly) a homage to Poison’s ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’, and a ‘bonus’ acoustic version is thrown on at the end just to ram the comparison home. Not great. Thankfully penultimate track, the epic ‘Alone In The Dark’ with its ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’ flavouring, shows the band can succeed admirably when slowing the pace down, then immediately hit full throttle again on ‘Hollywood Heroes’, a song that happily brings to mind early melodic Accept, of all things.
So definitely a nice surprise, and well recommended for fans of 80s melodic hard rock with occasional sleaze and glam overtones. If I had to describe the band’s sound, I’d simply say ‘Full-on unadulterated Nymphomania!” Or, just F.U.N. for short.
Bruce Mee
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