{"id":29620,"date":"2013-05-20T06:51:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T11:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=29620"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:35:45","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:35:45","slug":"santa-cruz-screaming-for-adrenaline-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/santa-cruz-screaming-for-adrenaline-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Cruz | Screaming For Adrenaline<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"SantaFans of that Scandinavian neo-sleaze sound will think Christmas has come early when they hear the combustible licks and red-hot hooks of Santa Cruz, the Finnish band poised to make some serious noise in the retro-rock revival realm. If you like your hair-metal \u201880s-esque and melodically sleazy with that slithering, decadent Sunset Strip groove, Santa Cruz will rock your socks off, rock your world, or whatever clich\u00e9 \u201crock your\u201d metaphor you can come up with.<\/p>\n

Screaming For Adrenaline<\/em> is their full-length debut, after a couple of demos and a self-produced EP, and while some of the songs are recycled, they have all benefited from engineering upgrades courtesy of a production that is tight, taut, and professional without calling undue attention to itself like a hooker who slathered on the makeup with a paint roller. In other words, this is not the kind of album that conceals a slew of sub-par sins beneath a sugarcoating of studio gloss, but instead lets the music speak for itself.<\/p>\n

The band members weren\u2019t even born when hair metal had its heyday\u2014the oldest is only 21\u2014but they hammer their instruments like seasoned pros and they have certainly spent time studying the masters. You can hear elements of Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns \u2018N Roses, Skid Row, etc. in their sound, yet they studiously avoid cranking out just another carbon copy. While seeking inspiration from the pop-metal professionals of yesteryear, they take steps to ensure they are more than just soulless clones. More up and coming bands should take note, because paying homage to the past while forging your own present day identity is the proper way to approach the neo-sleaze genre. It is not enough to merely say you sound like so-and-so; you must sound like so-and-so\u2026but with your own unique stamp. This is one of the things that separate Santa Cruz from the rest of the new-blood pack.<\/p>\n

Disliking this album is harder than hating your own mom. Sure, you could probably nitpick and point to a hook or two that could be a smidgen sharper here and there, but that\u2019d be like bitching about somebody giving you $90 instead of a $100. The reality is, Santa Cruz is just a slamming good time with pyrotechnic guitars, oodles of attitude, good bass tones, and drums powerful enough to sell the whole package. And hey, who doesn\u2019t want the whole package, right?<\/p>\n

Every song is singularly focused on getting your blood pumping and your pulse racing. They are sleazy and aggressive and loud and catchy and a whole bunch of other synonyms designed to denote major coolness. Old-school head-bangers simply will not be able to resist tracks like \u201cAnthem For the Young N Restless\u201d with its big, hook-drenched chorus and tasty gang backing vocals delivered at just the right time for maximum impact. More gang vocals appear in \u201cSweet Sensation,\u201d as does a blistering guitar solo that will leave the cilia inside your ears scorched and smoking so badly that you may need a Q-Tip to clean out the ashes. Even better, check out \u201cAiming High,\u201d a retro-rock anthem that could not reek any more of the \u201880s if it donned slashed jeans and snakeskin boots and juggled two Rubik\u2019s Cubes while watching Doogie Howser on TV.<\/p>\n

At one point Santa Cruz snarls, \u201cNothing\u2019s gonna stop me … \u2018cause I don\u2019t give a f*ck\u201d and then later shouts, \u201cWe came, we saw, we conquered!\u201d This brash and bold attitude, coupled with an album chock full of glam-metal anthems, should be more than enough to carry them into the upper echelon of the sleaze-metal revival that has taken the melodic hard rock world by storm. Simply put, Santa Cruz is a welcome shot of sonic adrenaline.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hair Metal, Glam Metal, Sleaze Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nArchie (vocals, guitar)
\nJohnny (guitar, backing vocals)
\nMiddy (bass, backing vocals)
\nTaz (drums, backing vocals)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Screaming For Adrenaline
\n2. Anthem for the Young N Restless
\n3. Relentless Renegades
\n4. Sweet Sensation
\n5. Nothing Compares to You
\n6. High on You
\n7. Let\u2019s Get the Party Started
\n8. Alive
\n9. Lovin\u2019 You (Is Just for Playing)
\n10. Aiming High
\n11. Let Me (Lay My Love on You)<\/p>\n

Label: Spinefarm Records<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.facebook.com\/santacruzband<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — Fans of that Scandinavian neo-sleaze sound will think Christmas has come early when they hear the combustible licks and red-hot hooks of Santa Cruz, the Finnish band poised […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,1094,1125,334,6385,3875],"class_list":{"0":"post-29620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-glam-metal","10":"tag-hair-metal","11":"tag-review","12":"tag-sleaze-rock","13":"tag-spinefarm-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}