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06 August 2005 |
The Donnas Gold Medal - (Atlantic) Well, they're getting closer. That sounds like faint praise, but any improvement over the last two disasters (Spend The Night and Turn 21) is welcomed from these gals. While their punk past is dead and buried (and that's a shame), The Donnas have at least seemed to abandon the heavy metal leanings on Gold Medal, instead opting for a looser, funner, almost glam-like sound. The lyrics are still juvenile attempts at tease and there's not a whole lot of originality at work here (ironically, their amateur playing and singing on their debut made that record practically a masterpiece!), but Gold Medal does have some things going for it in the "head-bobbing good rock and roll time" category. The opening "I Don't Want To Know (If You Don't Want Me)" charges out of the gates, the single "Fall Behind Me" is a solid tough rocker, and "It's So Hard" manages to make you think that they've spent more than a few hours listening to classic Alice Cooper. Much of the appeal on Gold Medal comes from the marked improvement in the band's playing. Torry Castellano remains an under appreciated powerhouse behind the kit, and vocalist Brett Anderson is getting away from what was becoming a pretty standard delivery. This culminates in the great title track, really the most adventurous thing the band's done in a while. More of this next time would be a great thing. Thanks to Gold Medal, I'm not ready to count The Donnas out quite yet, and hope that their next furthers a possible trend starting here.
6.5
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