When it comes to contemporary rock-n-roll, I find that checking the New Release section of Frontiers Music is an easy way for me to catch-up on what I’ve missed. Sure enough, more has been released in the last few months than I realized. Diving in, we start with Slash co-conspirator Todd Kerns and his newest project Heroes & Monsters which features Stef Burns (guitar) and Will Hunt (drums). Gun-shy to a fault when it comes to modern rock production, Heroes & Monsters’ self-titled debut puts my mind at ease on opener “Locked & Loaded” and the hooks just keep coming.
Guitarist Stef Burns has worked with everyone from Huey Lewis & the News and Berlin to Alice Cooper and Y&T. The wide-range of experience makes songs like “Break Me (I’m Yours)” find a melodic groove where other guitarists might slip into a paint-by-numbers AC/DC style that will never be done as well as AC/DC. His work on “Don’t Tell Me I’m Wrong” allows Kerns to channel a little Freddie Mercury on the soaring chorus. It’s the type of stadium anthem that you almost forgot existed in a modern age of hopelessly compressed recordings. Heroes & Monsters side-step all the trappings of what modern rock “should” sound-like and deliver ten songs that are worthy additions to the great rock-n-roll canon.
Reading the PR releases ahead of many albums these days, I’ve sussed out that anywhere I read “melodic rock”, it probably means “would have sounded awesome on MTV in 1989.” This holds especially true on Chez Kane’s second album Powerzone. Lead track “I Just Want You” sits somewhere between Roxette and Vixen and it completely blows the doors open on this record. Songs like “Love Gone Wild” and “I’m Ready (For Your Love)” showcase Kane’s fierce voice which usually lands somewhere between Pat Benatar and Lita Ford. That’s good company to be in. It unabashedly colorful and fun, just like the 80s. Chez Kane hits us with her best shot and we want more, more, more.
Perhaps my favorite surprise on my adventure through the year at Frontiers Music is Rock Candy from guitar-virtuoso Orianthi. The songwriting threatens to overshadow her guitar-work which seems almost impossible because she is one of the all-time greats on the fretboard. However, a song like “Where Did Your Heart Go” could be a million-selling single for Lady Gaga but Orianthi adds her signature guitar-work to it and takes it somewhere even more special with a tone that would make Carlos Santana jealous. Everything about this album demands attention. Having played some of the biggest artists in music history, Orianthi has never sounded better and this is her time to shine.