Now, you’d be forgiven if you just looked at the cover and thought that these guys would be a stripped back barroom band, a bit like the Dogs DAmour or Quireboys. Well, that shows you how image is deceiving because Two Bit Theif are more of a hybrid of LA Guns, Bang Tango, and Circus of Power. They are an altogether more hard rockin’ beast.
This is their first album, that came out in ’90. They would record two more before disappearing around ’96. This album was released on Combat, which is more of an out and out metal label so it’s a bit weird to see a glam sleaze band on it, but the band do touch a lot of bases on this record. There is one thrash glam hybrid song, Broke Again that Overkill would have been proud of.
It’s the more hard rockin’ tunes that get my attention such as Love Hate, City Boy, Crime, a belting version of Rose Tattoo’s Remedy, and especially Hard Times which is my favourite song. There is an almost punk rock version of Flosam Prison Blues and a punk/metal crossover tune called Modern Revolution just to confuse the listener a little more. That’s maybe why they struggled for an audience.
They should have stuck to the harder glam sound, as that’s what they do best.
7/10 from The Grooveman.
