Published on Jul 21, 1999
Chances are, if you live in the United States, you’ve never
heard of PC69 – or, as their official name is, Pink Cream 69. If
you see their album
Electrified in the stores, you might assume it’s a debut
effort. Wrong; it’s the American debut of possibly Europe’s best
kept secret. (Across the pond, the band might be best known as Andi
Deris’s former group; he’s now known as the lead singer for
Helloween.)
PC69 is a melting pot of cultures, featuring a band that has one
American, one Briton, one German and one Greek. Musically, their
style is magnificent, and
Electrified – with one major slip – is one of the most
enjoyable albums I’ve heard in a long time.
The band – guitarist Alfred Koffler, vocalist David Readman,
bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Kosta Zafiriou – are very much a
hard rock band, but not one that capitalizes on the lessons learned
by numerous bands from the ’80s nor one that lamely plows through
the material in the name of all things grunge. No, this is a band
that knows how to write a powerful song with enough lyrical and
melodical catches to reel in even Tipper Gore to the side of
barre-chord rock.
From the opening chords of “Shame,” PC69 win the listener over.
Readman’s vocals are incredibly powerful without dipping into the
hystrionics that some might connect with this type of music.
Koffler’s guitar work – both rhythm and leads – is stimulating to
the listener, becoming technical without ever being pompous. Ward
and Zafiriou are an excellent rhythmic anchor for this band, with
Zafiriou’s trap work standing out often.
Electrified is jam-packed with songs that would make any
program director drool with delight. “Losing My Faith,” “Break The
Silence,” “Stranger In Time” and the title track all stand out
among the album’s best work – not to say that the remainder of the
album is weak, ’cause it isn’t. To be blunt, this is the kind of
music that American radio and music lovers have been waiting to
hear for a long time.
PC69 even handles ballads well; the album’s closer, “Gone
Again,” is a touching track that seems like the perfect way to end
the album… that is, until about 90 seconds pass, and the song
kicks in again. This time, instead of hearing Readman’s longing for
the love he lost, the vocal is delivered in a swaggering, Cockney
accent. This completely ruins the mood – as well as the song – for
me, and never should have been released on the disc. It’s one thing
to play around in private; it’s another to release it to the
general public. (C’mon, didn’t we learn
anything from the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee home porno tape?
Some things are best kept in private.)
Had it not been for that one mistake,
Electrified would have been a perfect album. Even so, this
disc is crammed with songs that are going to make a believer out of
you that rock and roll is not dead. Here’s hoping that
Electrified brings PC69 success on this side of the ocean –
success the band quickly proves it deserves. Here’s also hoping
that we’ll soon see the release of the band’s other discs in
America.