{"id":21218,"date":"2014-07-07T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21218"},"modified":"2018-05-01T01:53:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T01:53:14","slug":"ep-review-roxie-77-the-ameriswede","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-roxie-77-the-ameriswede\/","title":{"rendered":"ROXIE 77 – The Ameriswede EP (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROXIE 77
The Ameriswede EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nBellyache (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Best known for his collaborative efforts with heavy metal gods Alice Cooper and Slash (ex-Guns N\u2019 Roses), American rocker Ryan Roxie (vocals \/ guitar) formed his band Roxie 77 back in 2002 out of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The band debuted in 2004 with the Peace, Love & Armageddon<\/em> opus before relocating to Sweden in 2006. While there Ryan Roxie joined forces with current line-up Eric Rydman (guitar \/ piano), Magnus Wikstr\u00f6m (bass) and Anton K\u00f6rberg (drums), and in 2009 released the album Two Sides To Every Story<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In spite of the sugary nature of Roxie 77 \u2013 who cite several varying influences for their sound, ranging from the Beastie Boys to Cheap Trick \u2013 Ryan is somewhat of a musical journeyman; a well-respected, well-travelled hired gun, if you like, who has also made his name through bands such as Dad\u2019s Porno Mag, Casablanca, and sleaze rockers Electric Angels.<\/p>\n

With The Ameriswede<\/em> Roxie 77 has compiled an EP of six new songs, which also comes with an alternate mix of each track \u2013 so 12 tracks in total. The EP begins with the jaunty \u2018Idiots & Idols\u2019, a pop-tinged, up-tempo rocker that harkens back to the vibrant days of the early-to-mid 90s when rock bands developed naturally into sweet, sugary and bombastic acts who didn\u2019t always get the recognition they deserved.<\/p>\n

One band that springs to mind \u2013 as Ryan smirks, \u201cLove songs are for idiots and idols\u201d<\/em> \u2013 has to be Enuff Z\u2019Nuff, in the sense that this track has that veritable feast of catchy, uplifting hooks laced with that Cheap Trick style of trickery which every band and its mother stole from The Beatles, but somehow incorporated the trend into hard rock; the result being a gorgeous, lush mix of sprightly, jangly guitars and positive vocal vibes.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Solution\u2019 is similarly groove-based but harder hitting as it kicks in with an infectious riff and punchy drum lick as Ryan quips, \u201cYou say you wanna solution, you say you don\u2019t wanna fight, but all your talk is pollution, you\u2019re polluting my life. You\u2019re hanging out with the B-list, you\u2019re making sure you\u2019re seen, you didn\u2019t think I could resist, another ride on the rocket queen\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The delivery is one of summery snarl, always edgy, forever energetic and yet beautifully contrasted by the swaying melodies of \u2018Downtown\u2019, which has that Cheap Trick \/ Enuff Z\u2019Nuff magic about it by the bucketload. The vocal is effortless, the music jumpy, jerky and sweet, and of the six songs it\u2019s the most instant. But with such quality of songs it\u2019s nigh on impossible to pick a favourite, although the majestic \u2018Silent Confrontation\u2019, with its dreamy Beatles-esque psychedelic intro and then slamming rhythm section, takes some beating. \u201cHere we go with another silent confrontation\u201d<\/em>, Ryan beams. \u201cWe both know, we both know this time\u201d<\/em> he says, and I\u2019m on the same wavelength as this band of quirks effortlessly flits about the room with another dose of lollipop rock.<\/p>\n

Cruising through the acoustic breeze of ditty \u2018Anna\u2019, we then reach the closing \u2018Simpleton Girl\u2019, which is one half The Jam\u2019s \u2018That\u2019s Entertainment\u2019 and the next a pinch of just about every song of hope from the swingin\u2019 60s \u2013 The Beatles \/ Arthur Alexander\u2019s \u2018Anna (Go To Him)\u2019 anyone? This is pure magic to the point that I can barely bring myself to listen to the six remixes which are all given the \u201cSwedish Mix\u201d treatment, but really are unnecessary in spite of the extra gloss and fuzz.<\/p>\n

The six songs on offer here are some of the best I\u2019ve heard since Enuff Z\u2019Nuff at their creamiest, so it\u2019s hats off to Roxie 77 for a bloody brilliant EP.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROXIE 77The Ameriswede EP Bellyache (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 Best known for his collaborative efforts with heavy metal gods Alice Cooper and Slash (ex-Guns N\u2019 Roses), American rocker Ryan Roxie (vocals \/ guitar) formed his band Roxie 77 back in 2002 out of Los Angeles. The band debuted in 2004 with the Peace, Love & Armageddon opus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1376,3962],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-roxie-77","category-ryan-roxie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21218"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68766,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21218\/revisions\/68766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}