No BS by Brownsville Station (CD, Jun-2005, Wounded Bird Records)

Before their glorious Jr. High School anthem SMOKIN' IN THE BOY'S ROOM went to the top of the charts....
Yes, even before WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE stung Cub Koda's and everyone else's beehive....
The little (as in not that well known at the time, and underrated) Michigan band known as Brownsville Station put out this great rockin' 1st LP..... finally released on CD. It's full of revved up versions of R'n'R classics along with some fine originals: some arranged to swing, some done as straight on rock'n'rollers, and some done as piledrivin' ravers. It's all good fun, and even though pretty much every song is a high energy rocker of one type or another, they don't sound monotonous or run together.
Six of the eleven tracks are covers, the remaining five are originals: and although not quite as strong as the classics the band chose to cover, the originals are consistently good.

In fact, the only weak point of the whole show might be the album cover itself. It's a nice little bit of work in it's way; but it doesn't do justice to the music inside. A more engaging cover might have helped the record really take off.

For fans of seventies rock, or fans of Brownsville Station's later work, this CD might come as a bit of a surprise. Even though nearly all of the band's work over the course of their career is either dyed-in-the-wool Rock'n'roll (in it's various forms), or 60's and 70's Hard Rock derivatives thereof; this, their first effort, is far more influenced by Fifties Rock'n'roll than their other records. Here the band pays tribute to the Fifties-style Rock they love and grew up with- but with a contemporary sensibility, natch.

Michael Lutz does all the vocals with the exception of Roadrunner, where Cub Koda attacks the Bo Diddley? classic with a powerful and charismatic screaming vocal style.

The entire band plays great, as always; and Cub Koda's lead guitar playing smokes throughout.

Tastes vary; and this is very early recorded work for this band, so this particular Brownsville Station CD may not be everyone's cup of tea.

No matter which way you shake it, though, this was a great band.

RIP, Cub. We love you.