ROCK AND ROLL YA PUKES!

I love all kinds of music. Everything from jazz, blues, classical, even the occasional country tune.

But there are times when that heathen-like little creature inside of me comes out, and I long for that electric wall of sound that only a good hard-rock group can deliver.

I've been on Pandora, creating my own stations, trying to find the group that can service my needs. Pandora managed to perfectly sum up what I was looking for:

electric rock instrumentation
a subtle use of vocal harmony
extensive vamping
meandering melodic phrasing
a vocal-centric aesthetic
major key tonality
dirty electric guitar riffs
an emotional male lead vocal performance

Oh yes! Gimme some of that!

Because there are times when I yearn to hear an emotional male lead singing his heart out - in a vocal-centric kind of way; times when I crave some meandering melodic phrasing backed up by extensive vamping and….of course!.....dirty electric guitar riffs!

For God's sake!! Don't leave out the dirty electric guitar riffs!

So Pandora directed me to two groups that I hadn't been aware of, but am now a fan.

Our posters from Boston have probably heard of the first group. The singer-guitarist Mike Gent of the Figgs joined up with the Boston group Gravel Pitt to become……The Gentlemen.

Do yourself a favor and check out their latest CD "Blondes Prefer The Gentlemen." Get it, play it, crank it up. (Especially the track "Charade")

But please - do not go to youtube and try to find a clip of them. I only found a couple of clips and they really, really didn't do the Gentlemen justice.

If you look at them, you'll say to yourself, "Stray Cat must have been kidding." Then you won't get their CD, or downlown it from itunes - and you will be robbing yourself of an important rocking-out experience.

The next group is called Loser. You won't find anything at all about them on youtube. Their first CD - "Just Like You" - only came out about six months ago. Yes, there are times when I'm just Too. Damn. Cutting Edge…..even for youtube.

But these guys aren't newbies. The group includes John 5, the guitarist from Marilyn Manson, and the singer is Joe Grah (known for his work with Black Sabbath). So it's not like these guys don't know what they're doing.

Check out their track "Without You (Inside Out)." If you like the Foo-Fighters, you'll like Loser.

So get busy, buy the CDs or download these tracks and ………ROCK AND ROLL, YA PUKES!