Tag: Saigon kick

This is Saigon Kick’s third album, and if you believe some of the media reviews, this was the runt of the family. Over the three albums the band initially released, they changed a lot. Starting off within the “hair metal” brigade, then evolved into something a whole lot more. By the time this album came out they were a three piece with Jason Bieler being the main focus on guitar and vocals.

One Step Closer opens up the album and it’s clear the sound has progressed with a riff and groove reminiscent of Kings X. Superb tune! A cover of Bowie’s Space Oddity follows, and I have to say it’s one of the better versions I have heard. Jason’s voice just fits perfectly. The title track follows and is such a beautiful piece set to a sparse programmed instrumentation. Torture has a delicious, deep, heavy sounding riff with such killer melodic vocals, and a ripping solo. Fields Of Rape has a slow, almost country vibe to parts of the tune, with a short but awesome solo. We end Side 1 with I Love You which starts a bit like a child’s lullaby and is a love song to someone most dear.

Sgt Steve opens up Side 2 and I guess by design, it feels like the Beatles. My Hearts starts with a pounding native beat, with a fat guitar riff and vocal melody over the top. A very striking sound. On And On has a great funky groove to the main hook, with hints of the Police in there as well. The Way is an oh so slow, almost blues vibe, and it feels like The Black Keys before they were a thing. Sentimental Girl is a fun hard rock ragtime tune that feels a lot like Queen at their most adventurous. Close To You, again has those native drums and a vocal that sounds like The Cult. When You Were Mine  follows and those Sgt Pepper vibes are strong with a huge sounding string section. The album closes out with Reprise, a short book ending piece.

If you follow Jason Bieler on the web, it’s obvious that this was his baby as everything he has done after this has been a take off point. This is not an immediate catch on record, it takes time to sink in. Great band!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

This album is the 2nd release by Saigon Kick and came out in ’92. For a lot of the bands that operated within this hard rock sphere that would have spelled disaster, but this record was the band’s biggest selling. It’s as though they were part of the gang, but they were always that little bit different. The sound is very heavy in places, but they have an amazing sense of melody, and the vocals and harmonies are incredible.

They are mostly known for the single, Love Is On The Way, which is a great tune, but there are better tracks on offer. Feel The Same Way has a great hook and melody, and a great groove. Freedom has a great heavy riff, and I love the harmonies and the killer middle section. If I was at the record company, I would have released God Of 42nd Street as a follow up single as the vibes are very similar to what was around back then.

If any of you follow Joan Bieler on social media, you will know that he has released a variety of musical projects, and some of these are quite quirky. If you listen to Peppermint Tribe it has an element of the quirky about it, and to me this is what made the band so awesome – that little burst of the unexpected, and the riff is monster by the way.

Jason Bieler is a definite riff master, and the riff to the title track is huge and fat, and the solo is killer. All I Want was the other single release and it’s very similar to Love Is On The Way. Miss Jones has a killer opening with a huge sounding guitar with a slight funky groove, along with a great melody and harmony. This album is very familiar and yet totally different – it’s such a great record.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

Saigon Kick are a very puzzling band. This was their first album and was released in ’91 – right at the height of all things grunge. There are a couple of tracks that have that slight feel to them, but overall, musically, they scream hair metal – or whatever you want to call it. There are melodies and harmonies in every song, which is about as anti-grunge as you can get. The album after this one, The Lizard, would be the one to score big for the band, as the top twenty song, Love Is On The Way, was on that record. This album is a lot more quirky. Tracks like, What Do You Do, sort of defy description. It has a spoken lyric with a heavy guitar, but it reminds me of Devo.

The opening two tracks, New World, and Want You Say, are really good tunes. The first great track is Suzy. It’s funky bass line and guitar leap out of the speakers – and Extreme spring to mind here. I think one of the things that make them hard to pigeonhole is the vocals of Matt Kramer. He has a very unusual timbre to his voice. Colours is the first normal rock style track, and it’s really good with a nice solo from Jason Bieler. The very heavy riff of Love Of God changes the vibe somewhat (this could almost be an Alice In Chains track), and has that new wave feel to the track. I love the picked chord progression and the chorus on this track. Down By The Ocean is the weirdest track on the album – it’s lyrically strange and disturbing. The shortest track on the album is Acid Rain, which has a fat riff and nursery rhyme style lyric. My Life follows, and is trying to hard to be Queen in their weirder moments – it is my least favourite on the record. Month Of Sundays could be a Megadeth riff and is the heaviest track on the album. Ugly has the sleaziest of riffs and sounds like it could be a song from an LA hair band. Come Take Me Now shows how great songwriters Matt Kramer and Jason Bieler can be when they put the weird to one side. ICU has a typical hair metal riff and is a really good song.

So as you can tell, musically they are all over the place. They would hone their skills and zone in for the next album. I do really like weird, and things here are a bit different from the norm, so this gets…

An 8/10 from The Grooveman.