Crash Street Kids are back and they've only gone and made a concept album!

Now, before you walk away from the screen, read on because it's not like a Pink Floyd concept album - oh no! These bad boys rock 'n' roll and have managed to hone their sound into a cohesive boa-twirling, hard rockin' noise as the tale unfurls; one of love and lust as two runaways find each other on the street with survival the name of the game. What you have here is the soundtrack to the underbelly of life and love with drug pushers, trannys and pimps and a whole lot besides - God damn it people, it's a love story and all that goes with it put to music in the best possible way!

The beauty of 'Sweet Creatures' is that it is a retro walk on the wild side of stomping '70s glam rock with a few wider appealing influences creeping into their collective stack boots and cuban heels. Evidence of this is the Motorhead-like rush of album opener 'Sweet Creatures' - now imagine Ian Nunter fronting Motorhead and you're almost there, baby! A band like Crash Street Kids aren't without flaws, though, because I can't say I'm bowled over with the Queen guitar licks, but that's just a minor complaint because the Mott The Hoople inspired swagger, along with the old school piano and keyboard swirls tied to the hard rockin' guitar work, is more than enough to compensate. 

Sure these boys are retro and, apart from the obvious comparisons to Mott and the likes of Sweet and T. Rex, they sure as hell know how to shake their shit and pen a good tune. 'Bang Bang! (You're Beautiful)' is merely rolling the wheel down the hill with reckless abandon rather than reinventing it because what these dudes know is that what made '70s glam rock so exciting was the bloody tunes and if it ain't broke then don't bloody well fix it. 'Sad Julia' is further evidence that songwriting is definitely a trump card and Crash Street Kids have a deck full. It's like this record never stops giving and, as 'Julia' keeps playing, the temptation is to press repeat - it's that good, with Ryan McKay delivering a sparkling performance on the vocal front. 'Bad! Yeah, Bad!' shakes their shit in another direction with a juicy riff that is both sleazy and seedy but has a great hook.
 
By the time they take the tempo down on '3rd Avenue Vampires' it's like it's been sprinkled with some magic from Ziggy himself for an uptempo ballad of sorts; say a soft song for tough guys if you like, irresistible as it builds on the middle eight. 'Mary Queen Of Rock' goes all 'Tiger Feet' and suddenly The Biters are being Bitten at their own game.
 
With eleven songs clocking in at a fraction over forty minutes Crash Street Kids have just upped their game - the likes of Prima Donna will be looking over their shoulders because this dandy mob are stealing a march. Throwing everything apart from the kitchen sink into the music that has continuity and diversity, if there is any justice in this mixed up world we live in then 2012 will see Crash Street Kids get their just rewards.

What a beautiful noise: these Sweet Creatures rock and roll with gusto and panache - buy it!

http://www.crashstreetkids.com/

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