"Hollywood" is the new disc from a man whose home page lists releases in various formats dating back to the mid 90's with a bio noting his first band to have been formed somewhere around 1980. It's clear from the cover photographs as well that this is no spring-chicken or relative newcomer either, backed up by a collection of 15 mature cuts of mainly straight-up, guitar based rock 'n' roll along the lines of JOHNNY THUNDERS, early garage band era ALICE COOPER and quite clearly THE RAMONES, although the included nod to them "Joey And Dee-Dee" turns out to be a nice acoustic tribute.

The concept of the album is an interesting one as the guitarist/singer appears to have got together with older bands of his or past co-horts to record the tracks, so for instance the opening few numbers, of which "Story Of A Girl" and the excellent "The Final Damnation" stand-out, are co-credited to K's current backing band THE HOLLYWOOD STARS, the next track to THE REAL KOOL KATS, the next few to KEVIN K himself and... well you get the idea. It does appear that it's mainly new recordings though as only "Circle Of Thieves" is noted as 1988 vintage.

Taking this approach does mean that the flow is interrupted a little at times, and the style alters subtly now and again, especially when a four track acoustic segment appears part way through the album sounding at odds with the opening numbers, but whether its acoustic or the energetic punk-edged electric stuff it's all good fare and shows a man clear able to produce a fine performance no matter who he plays with. For all that though I don't reckon it's going to up K's profile much. It's one of those albums that'll get played now and again and thoroughly enjoyed, quite rightly as there being little wrong with it, but it does lack the smattering of killer tracks needed to keep it on constant play for a while. Well worth a listen though.

- Leslie

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/kevinkrock

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.