JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT
Year Of The Tiger
Century Media (2017)
Rating: 7/10
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As a massive fan of Buckcherry I eagerly awaited this brand new project from mercurial, heavily-inked frontman Josh Todd who, alongside guitarist Stevie Dacanay, has put together a raucous effort.
My big concern was that the duo – who are accompanied by bassist Gregg Cash and drummer Sean Winchester – might simply have resorted to too many Buckcherry shades; especially when one considers that Todd’s volatile bark has been so recognisable through the years. But Year Of The Tiger is the sort of album he needed to construct, and an opus that, dare I say it, is even more reckless than the band he has become famous for fronting.
Year Of The Tiger offers up a hefty batch of abrasive numbers that don’t exactly stray from the path. One could argue that this sleaze-ridden, urban street trip is at times a touch generic – the sort of middle of the road, but often edgy daze that would more likely appeal to Foo Fighters’ fans rather than rough ‘n’ tumble gangsters and ghetto dwellers. But I’ve always loved Buckcherry, and so I knew I was going to like this new project.
With Todd’s snaps and raps you get a no frills but in-your-face procession of friction, and the combo behind him will no doubt spawn scratchy riffs, stressed percussion and biting, snapping bass lines. It’s rock ‘n’ roll from the gutter – a place where Josh Todd revels in order to tell his tales of desperation and angst amid a wail of police sirens, gang culture and Bronx Warriors-styled combats and inner torment.
Occasionally we’ll be treated to more melodic flecks, funkier dashes and bluesier swaggers, particularly on the excellent ‘Rain’ with its brooding, stomping first half before it steps into a more rugged groove. Todd is on full form here, his gnawing nasal whine complimented by Stevie Dacanay’s crunching guitar work.
At the other end of the spectrum we have the far spikier title track. It’s full throttle from the off, with Todd’s riotous rasps matched by the crushing percussion, but oddly it’s the sort of grating groove that hints more towards the likes of The Bronx rather than anything more seedier or urgent. That’s not to say that Todd hasn’t carved out a rampant, and often frothing rock ‘n’ roll record, but there’s still that modern shine which affects a majority of the tracks however gritty and street-level they try to be.
In today’s vast music market there seems to be an awful tendency for bands to leak into a rather radio friendly design, and this does appear evident on here with tracks such as ballad ‘Good Enough’ with its strong Mötley Crüe vibe, meanwhile ‘Inside’ also has a Crüe flavour with extra contemporary charge in its rumble.
‘Atomic’ injects further fiery life back into proceedings with its funky strut, but things get patchy again with the cover Prince’s rather tepid ‘Erotic City’, and while ‘Story Of My Life’ builds well it soon becomes a rather flaky radio-friendly plodder.
It could of course be argued that Year Of The Tiger boasts a collection of tunes not quite suitable enough for the Buckcherry cannon, but there’s still that strong element of a good times vibe about the platter and so the album remains unapologetic in its clambering and hammering.
The gnarly ‘Fucked Up’ is a short sharp slap to the face complete with choppy rhythms which throb in typical Buckcherry fashion except for that beefier guitar tone, while ‘Push It’ opts for similar simplicity but with extra layers of melody in guitar tone and vocal dispute.
And that’s where the album sits; occasional flits with Buckcherry-styled brat-rock coupled with at times generic contemporary glean fleetingly tarnished with grubbier smears. The thing is, with Todd’s style of vocal this sort of rebellious rock is always going to have that strong Buckcherry tinge, and so he might have to come up with something entirely different if he’s to escape from that straight down the line groove. With that in mind, Year Of The Tiger feels like an at times sub-par Buckcherry but with flashes of excellence.
Neil Arnold
