I have to stop judging bands by their album covers, but some bands are really asking for it. So when I saw a half naked tattooed pretty with a Nick Curran tattoo looking at Nick Curran poster on the cover of a Nick Curran and The Lowlifes album (confusing enough?), the first question that came to my mind was who is this guy and why is he raiding Mike Ness’s closet? It turns out that this band from Austin, TX isn’t another shitty punk band, but an awesome boogie-woogie rock n’ roll band.
Their new album Reform School Girl is a vintage cocktail of old blues legends brought back to life. Nick Curran sounds exactly like Little Richard when he screams and wails on “Baby You Crazy” and the eerie hollow bodied guitar fits in perfectly. “Reform School Girl” is reminiscent of ‘60s girls groups like The Ronnettes and The Crystals. The last song “Rocker” has fast paced Chuck Berry-like guitar solos and it’s short and sweet. Even though the treble is pretty high on this album, it adds to the classic sound of the album.
Reform School Girl is a fun album with songs about women, partying, and of course rocking and rolling! The songs don’t drag out with “look at me” guitar solos and have great energy. Thank you Nick Curran for actually knowing who Freddy King is and taking the best bits and pieces of rock n’ roll and regurgitating them into this century. We need it.
In A Word: Tuttifrutti
