Verona Red
Pound
Self-Released
Rating: 4 out of 5

<a href=”http://veronared.bandcamp.com/track/kitchen-song” _mce_href=”http://veronared.bandcamp.com/track/kitchen-song”>Kitchen Song by Verona Red</a>

Link: Verona Red Bandcamp
Verona Red At The Melody, January 2010, ZapTown Review.

When I listen to Pound I cannot help but associate Verona Red with Rocket From The Crypt. You may not have the spastic horn ensemble, but you can trace similarities to an album like Rocket From The Crypt’s RFTC album and a song like “Lipstick” or even the B-side “Heads Are Gonna Roll.”

I’m expecting the Chicago boys to smell like Dapper Dan adorned with polished leather wingtips. The only thing I can vouch for that is polished is their music because these boys want to rock and roll you over and over again.

Pound comes in like a lion, and is a rocker’s paradise. With “Kitchen Song” you really do not know what you are getting yourself into. What sounds like a Sha-Na-Na reunion, you think you are getting an ear-to-ear smile of doo wop insanity, but you are immediately transitioned into a balls-out brawl of sheer rock and roll intensity. It’s as if the Stray Cats turned their amps up to 11.

But don’t get comfortable because the band goes down south to dig up some roots rock and the shit kicker, “Toein’ The Line.” If you are not drinking this album in by now, you have done drank it because you should realize by now that this band will rock your ass.

“Sunday” is your Saturday night, and you will dance the night away. From the back alley scuffle of  “Big Mean Boogie” to bumb and grind of “Sweet Rose,” you experience a dual sensation of something fresh and vibrant, as well as brazen and confident.

Pound is the rock and roll album that you need.