Kix in Bloomington, MN

This 1981 album introduced the world to the tongue-in-cheek
rock & roll
style of
Kix
. Of all the bands to get lumped in under the "
hair metal
" tag,
was the one of the most unique and adventurous. In fact, the "
" tag was unfair to the band since its
pop-metal
stylings drew as much inspiration from
bubblegum pop
and
new wave
as it did from
hard rock
. This impressive debut finds its one of a kind sound fully realized:
"Heartbeat"
welds a yearning
pop
melody straight out of a teen idol hit onto a bouncing, staccato
guitar riff worthy of
the Cars
, and
"Contrary Mary"
weds the
bubblegum
chant of the title to a guitar riff that sounds like the main lick from
"Day Tripper"
turned inside out. Other standout tracks include the cowbell-driven hormonal anthem
"Love at First Sight"
"The Kid,"
a anti-brat revenge fantasy reminiscent of
"Beat on the Brat"
by
the Ramones
. Each of these songs has a deliciously
quality to their melodies and hooks, yet retain a heavy
sound thanks to amped-up guitar riffs and pounding tempos. The one real downside of the album is that producer
Tom Allom
, best known for his work with
Judas Priest
, tries a little too hard to shoehorn the band into a
style at times, resulting in a repetitive, no-frills production style that fails to live up to the ambitious genre bending of the songs. Despite this problem, the infectiousness of the material and the band's irrepressible good cheer shines through, making
well worth a spin for anyone who enjoys the lighter,
poppier
side of
. ~ Donald A. Guarisco