Stratocruiser -- Revolutions (Previously unpublished 2007 review)

Stratocruiser -- Revolutions (Just Plain Lucky)

This North Carolina band has shifted its emphasis from hard power pop to plain old fashioned hard rock. This doesn’t mean that melody is in short supply, but the songs are more rooted in blues and R & B structures than following in the Beatles/Raspberries/Cheap Trick mode. The band is limber and not plodding, giving this a nice ‘70s feel.

“Stuck to You” is an early winner, with its rhythm sounding Motown-ish and there’s some furious vamping, while Clay Howard’s husky vocals have the authority to carry across this intent number with a hooky chorus.

The band discovers the great lost Foghat song on “Rock and Roll City” which has an extremely catchy classic rock chorus -- as much as I like this track, I wish the guitars were even louder -- I can only imagine how this steamrolls when it’s performed in concert. “Saw Your Picture” is another bashing rocker that is rooted in ‘50s rock via the AOR sound of 30 years ago, with some nice Chuck Berry inspired lead guitar work.

I also like the moody mid-tempo “Shimmer & Fade”, which is designed to get the fans swaying. As a bonus, Stratocruiser tacks on a nice cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop” (one of those ‘hidden’ tracks) with Howard doing a very nice faux-Plant. If these guys aren’t the new Foghat, they might be the next Ram Jam, and the world needs one of those.