TOKYO MOTOR FIST
Lions
Frontiers Music Srl
I grabbed this because I liked the name, so sue me. And then I had to Google. TOKYO MOTOR FIST is a project of Ted Poley, who you may or may not remember from DANGER DANGER depending on your age, with a whos-who of AOR/Trad/hair metal backing folks. Accordingly, I figured more or less what I was in for, and suddenly wanted to invest in Aquanet. Clench your fist and yell.
Right from the word go, Lions comes roaring out of the gates with slightly fluffy material in the form of lead off track “Youngblood”, a great anthem to start these proceedings, with a slick and slippery lead and heartwarming whoa-ohs. This is what music should be especially in these times - bigger than life, arena sized hooks, and way more fun than it should be. The very VAN HALEN-esque tone that starts off second track “Monster In Me” is just a straight up mind fuck before reliably bringing in a great 4 on the floor battering, accented by gentle keys and subtle lead work just like Mom used to like on FM radio. This is really great stuff from players who, though long in the tooth, also have the chops and smarts to craft truly great songs.
Remember pop-punk? Yep. TOKYO MOTOR FIST bring that in full force come “Around Midniight”. The riffs bounce and pop and the chorus is as majestic as the lion that graces the cover. Oh, the cover is awesome by the way.
Given the style of TOKYO MOTOR FIST, of course there are ballads and they are executing with aplomb, but it’s the bluesy, boozy swagger of “Decadence on 10th Street” that really gets me, drawing instant comparison in my mind to the heyday of POISON and continued heyday of Sebastian Bach.
On the overall, TOKYO MOTOR FIST scratches an itch not many groups are reaching for - an honest exploration of radio friendly rock with a few curves thrown in. I will come back to this.
4.0 Out Of 5.0
