KIX Is Back to Rock Your Face Off…and They’re Not Kidding.
By Alyce Hayes
Warning: Listening to Kix’s newest album, Rock Your Face Off, may cause you to jump in the car and burn rubber until the wheels explode. Yep. It’s like that.
Kix 2014
Hard rock outfit Kix (Steve Whiteman on vocals, Brian “Damage” Forsythe and Ronnie “10/10” Younkins on guitar, Jimmy “Chocolate” Chalfant on drums and Mark Schenker on bass) has always had a way of inducing that good ol’ headbanging syndrome in even the most conservative of us…well, OK, of you. I dare anyone to tell me they didn’t rock out to “Cold Blood” from 1988’s Blow My Fuse or “Atomic Bombs” from 1990’s Kix just once. But for those of you who have only heard their ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” from Blow My Fuse, I must insist that you to go back to and listen to a few of their albums in full.
A sign in New Castle, PA from 2014…the band couldn’t resist uploading the pic and having a good chuckle about how they’re still billed even in 2014!
Kix, although lumped into the category of “hair bands” from the mid to late 80s, deserve a little more recognition for not just their longevity, but also for sticking with their music despite their humble beginnings as a cover band in Baltimore, playing six gigs a week on the club circuit. The fan base they acquired during that crazy three year run (yes, three years) played a large role in their first record deal ~ a testament to the rewards of adding hard work and focus to natural talent.
Kix at Rocklahoma 2014 ~ FW was there, and the crowd’s reaction spoke for itself!
If this isn’t NOT taking yourself seriously, I don’t know what is!
At its core, Kix is arena rock. They make the music you play when it’s party time and you want guests to go crazy, dancing on tables and having air guitar competitions. Listening to older albums, like their 1981 self-titled debut or 1985’s Midnite Dynamite, you can tell the guys knew how to get people revved up for a long night of roof-shaking, ear pummeling debauchery (and were no strangers to debauchery themselves!). The lyrical content, while not exactly profound (basically women, parties, and sex with women) was humorous and light; the band was able to laugh at themselves and just have fun with the music they were creating, and that made them all the more entertaining.
And on Rock Your Face Off, all the original fun-lovin’ spirit is still there and still hits the spot. The first track, “Wheels in Motion,” with its signature hair metal style drums and refreshing bass solo, reassures us that the Kix we know and love isn’t going anywhere… and the aptly titled “Rock Your Face Off,” a catchy, good-time classic hard rock track that features a peppy drum beat with guitars dance around each other, is proof.
Kix at Ohio Bike Week 2014
Kix music + fast car = bad (but oh-so-tempting) combination!
My personal favorites from the album? “All the Right Things,” which incorporates a little bit of country flavor, and “Mean Miss Adventure,” a fast-paced throwback to some of their older songs, but with a dash of rockabilly. It’s the kind of song that gets me daydreaming about flying down the highway in a late 80s Corvette (not my favorite decade of Vettes, but hey, it fits) with the cops hot on my tail ~ or just replaying scenes from Last Action Hero.
Here’s the complete track listing of Rock Your Face Off:
1. Wheels In Motion
2. You’re Gone
3. Can’t Stop The Show
4. Rollin’ In Honey
5. Rock Your Face Off
6. All The Right Things
7. Dirty Girls
8. Inside Outside Inn
9. Mean Miss Adventure
10. Love Me With Your Top Down
11. Tail On The Wag
12. Rock & Roll Showdown
Aren’t soundchecks fun?
Even though Kix had taken a seven year hiatus before reuniting (sans main songwriter and bassist Donnie Purnell), the chemistry that comes across on Rock Your Face Off shows that time apart can be a good thing for a band. It’s clear that everyone has matured in different ways and has returned to the fold a more seasoned musician ~ the guitar solos are more refined, as a whole the guitars are cleaner and make use of more country elements, and (in addition to a slight change in the songwriting style due to Purnell’s departure) one of the most notable differences is that of vocalist Steve Whiteman’s vocals. Gone are the Rob Halford falsettos that were de rigueur in the glam metal days; Steve stays within his natural range but without sacrificing his signature fiery grit or abandoning that indescribable quality that says rock n roll bad-ass and funniest guy in the room simultaneously. The vocal maturation brings the music up-to-date and should silence anyone who ever doubted how power and skilled Steve is behind the mic.
Kix @ Mohegan Sun. CT
Since many of the tracks on the album are still fueled by Kix’s old school arena rock sensibilities (and let’s be honest, that kind of sound has never really lost its appeal, it just takes a break from the top of the charts depending on what the public is into at the moment ~ but its faithful followers never abandon it), they help create some balance between then and now, allowing the band to win over new fans, keep the [many] existing ones, and continue creating and performing the music they love. Accomplishing all that takes one damn good band and one damn good album, and we get both with Kix and Rock Your Face Off, which hits stores on August 5 via Loud and Proud Records. Get yourself a copy and give into the fun of it all ~ But seriously, I wouldn’t recommend rocking out to these party animals if you’re behind the wheel ‘cause there’s almost no way you’re going to avoid one mother of a speeding ticket.
For Kix tour dates, head here.
Head to Amazon to pre-order the album (which is already #2 on the Amazon charts!) or the MP3, also available on iTunes.
