Rocket From the Tombs/Dead Boys guitarist embraces classic rock sounds

It would be easy to assume that the first substantial studio recorded solo effort from former Dead Boys Cheetah Chrome, a 59 year old man who‰’s ex-group‰’s best known album was called Young Loud and Snotty, would be a kind of sad. With a few exceptions, most rock stars (not underground heroes like Stephen Malkmus and Robert Pollard, but bona fide, arena filling stars) who don‰’t burn out tend to fade away, either recording new albums that have nothing to say or going on tours to try and make a dime off the nostalgia of their whole experience. What‰’s great about Chrome‰’s Solo is how much it sounds like a record from one of those artists who neither burns out nor fades away. Chrome sounds experienced, not old, and doesn‰’t try to recapture what he had with the Dead Boys, but forges a new sound for himself that‰’s a little Springsteen, a little Nashville, a little Petty, a little Guided By Voices, and yes, maybe a little punk rock as well. The only room left for nostalgia is “East Side Story,‰” which instead, of a cheesy nostalgia trip, is a Hold Steady-esque ode to a scene lost to the sands of time. The rest of the music borrows a lot from classic rock but still manages to sound fresh and lets Chrome shine as guitarist and there are way more solos on here than the CBGB crowd would ever tolerate. Instead of a poor effort from a over the hill artist with nothing better to do, Solo is what‰’s hopefully the first page in a brand new chapter in the career for one rock‰’s most under valued voices.

RIYL: The Hold Steady, Bruce Springsteen, Guided by Voices
Recommended: 2, 5-7