Is there still a genre that we can call ‘pure’ hard rock? Sure AC/DC are still around, for example, but the number of such bands and artists seems to be dwindling, their music often veering into all forms of metal on one, side power pop on the other, or just somewhere else completely.
Yet, Kickstand Jenny, a quartet from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida seems to be determined to keep that ‘just’ hard rock line alive and kicking on their latest album Between The Lies.
Since the band has been around for only three years or so, it is pretty interesting that their songwriting and playing skills are so tight, and that guitarist Preston Merlock and his crew were able to reach a status where they often share the stage with the likes of Slaughter, Living Colour, Sebastian Bach and LIT.
The reasons why they are becoming a live commodity are evident on the album too. Sure, you can pick up the influences throughout the eleven tracks here. Still, Kickstand Jenny was able to not only just pile them up onto each other, but to arrange them in a sensible, their own way, garnishing them with some excellent instrumental and vocal skills, particularly evident on tracks like ‘Standing In The Doorway’ and ‘Solo’ (with Mark Slaughter). Their ability to re-think and re-work their inspirations is also evident in their slowed-down, then full-force version of ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’.
Actually, Kickstand Jenny confirms here that the original form of hard rock is alive and kickin’.
