The Bangkok Five has a distinctly LA feel for me. The singer has that sort of macho/effeminate glam metal thing going, sounding a bit like a hair-metal Glenn Danzig. In the press photos the guitar players look like they wish they were in Guns'N'Roses back in the day. Theirs is a world of "Razor-sharp stilettos" and Sunset Boulevard antics with loose women and whiskey nights.
Sleazy, glammy, garagey hard rock and roll with some unexpected 80's tinges that remind me of.... INXS of all things. Extremely catchy, some really great melodies, songs that would sound totally uplifting in a teen movie, you know the scene where the young pimply hero is starting to find courage, become a man, having a really great day, driving a really amazing car with a hot chick by his side. Something like that, you know?
The last song is a kind of pretty ballad that reminds me of Start Chopping by Dinosaur Jr. and the guitars even sound a little J. Mascis inspired; A nice different side to the band and a great ending to the album.
If you live in LA, just buy this and play it really loud as you drive down Sunset Boulevard and go to Venice Beach, one of those glamorous strip clubs you see in all the action movies and definitely to some party-hard night club on the strip feeling like Poison is still at the top of the pop charts and love it. If you don't live in LA.... I don't know.. pretend that you do and love this just as much in a guilty pleasure kind of way.
Oh yeah, what's up with the close up tit shot of an Asian stripper in a strip club on the front of the CD and then a huge collage of Thai whorehouses? Crass! But sexy!
