M!SS CRAZY | Clones

August 5, 2022 Publisher Music Reviews Comments Off

by Dan Skiba
— Guest Columnist —

Markus Allen Christopher and his crazy cohorts are back at it again with the release of Clones via Eonian Records. For those not familiar with the band, M!SS CRAZY is a Hard Rock outfit from California that keeps the Glam/Arena Rock spirit of Def Leppard, Kix, and Cinderella alive and relevant. While those bands have all but given up on creating new music, M!SS CRAZY continues to crank out catchy compositions that will have you singing along after just a few spins.

A common theme beating through many M!SS CRAZY songs over the years is relational strife … seems Markus has been through more than his share of falling in love only to wonder what went wrong and why he ended up getting kicked in the nuts. Topically, there appears to be another chapter of romantic regret (and perhaps groveling) that Markus wants to release through the band’s music. And, by and large, he’s successful at that throughout this new release. With song titles such as “I’m Never Gonna Get Over You”, “I Don’t Believe In Love”, “Forgiveness”, and “She Loves Me”, you can see how Markus has continued to struggle when trying to deal with a rollercoaster love-life.

Clones starts with “I’m Never Gonna Get Over You”, which is a solid song that fits squarely in the M!SS CRAZY mold of old. It’s quick, catchy, and jumps feet first into relational trauma. Next up is the title track, “Clones”, which is actually a cover of the song written by David Carron that was featured on Alice Cooper’s Flush The Fashion album back in 1980. Between “Clones” and the subsequent track “Living In America”, seems M!SS CRAZY also has something to say about the current state the USA’s democracy. The album takes an interesting droning psychedelic turn with “I Don’t Believe In Love”, and if you’re a fan of big, sing-a-long choruses, then the next track “I Just Wanna Give” should meet your expectations. The song “Tonight” offers a change-up by featuring Nicole Willard as lead vocalist (with Markus harmonizing in the background) … it works well and results in arguably the album’s catchiest track. Clones closes out with an uncharacteristic guitar-based instrumental entitled “V.A.”, and then ends with “She Loves Me”, which is also one of the strongest of the lot.

Strengths of this album include several musical change-ups compared to previous releases and the inclusion of Nicole Willard’s vocals to complement Markus’ raspy singing style. On the flip side, Clones is barely over 30 minutes long and a good chunk of that deals with the dark side of Markus’ relationships, which basically means a handful of tracks may “bring you down” rather than “fire you up” … the latter being something M!SS CRAZY has always been good at doing. Nonetheless, Clones is a solid album and definitely worth checking out … and while you’re at it, do yourself a favor and order Can’t Get Enough” if you’d like to hear one of the best Arena/Hard Rock albums of all time.

Line-up:
Markus Allen Christopher – Vocals & Guitar
Nicole Willard – Vocals & Backing Vocals
Vernon Anderson – Guitar
John Homan – Drums
Kim Racer – Bass

Track Listing: