Prima Donna have been reliably pumping out scuzzy, Dolls-indebted
rock for over a decade and have finally made the album they have long been
threatening to. “Nine Lives and
Forty-Fives” is a step up for Kevin Preston and co., a rollicking 33 minute
drive into the seedy underbelly of L.A…the songs are sharper, the attack both
more precise and menacing, and the choruses reach for the rafters. The spy-theme riff that underpins first
single “Deathless” worms its way into your skull, and the driving “Rubbish”
matches pounding keys with a staccato guitar slash that wouldn’t sound out of
place on “L.A.M.F.”; when Aaron Minton’s sax bleats out a quick run in the
middle, you’d be hard pressed not to floor the accelerator and just give
yourself over to the rush.
The production, courtesy of California punk stalwarts Bruce
Duff (Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs, Triple X records) and Paul Roessler (the savagely
underrated Screamers, 45 Grave, dozens of others), is just the right amount of
raw…this is a band that benefits from scuffing up the veneer a bit, and Duff
and Roessler have a very good handle on how to keep one foot in the
gutter. Not everything here works – “I’m
On Fire” is generic and too “bloozy” by half and “Tattooed Love Girl” seems to
be a bit TOO in love with the riff and rhythm of Jim Carroll’s “Friends Who
Died” - but album centerpiece “Rock and Roll is Dead” belies its own title and
shows exactly how precise and powerful a band Prima Donna have become. Roll down the windows, clap along and play this fucker loud!
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