The ‘Fraze’ in Fraze Gang is Greg Fraser, formerly guitarist / vocalist in Brighton Rock, a Canadian 80’s Rock / Metal band who, like many bands of their ilk, came to a demise after the onset of the Seattle sound. Greg has got together with his former Brighton Rock band mate bassist Stevie Skreebs, and together with drummer Phil Epp, they have launched this new trio and delivered an album that recaptures the sounds of the Hair Metal bands, in particular Poison, Cinderella and White Lion.

The CD kicks off with ‘Blow Me Away’ and with this song Fraze Gang make their intentions clear – this an unashamed attempt to head back to the 80’s with guitars way up in the mix and a catchy melody set against a backdrop of pounding beats. This is a nice start and leads into the power ballad ‘Saviour’, a definite highlight and a chance to recall all of those ‘lighter in the air’ moments at Arena gigs that used to be a feature of almost every Rock and Metal gig 15-20 years ago.

When I first checked out the track listing and saw the titles ‘Rainbow Eyes’ and ‘Stargazer’ I thought that they had covered a couple of old Rainbow classics but both of these turned out to be Fraser originals. The former has some nice acoustic touches and is another worthy ballad whereas the latter is one of the more memorable hook lines, again evoking the classic rock feel and vocals that remind me of Dave Lee Roth. Just when you think this is going to be an album of twelve songs delivered in a similar fashion it takes an unexpected turn with the closing track ‘Hot Rod’ that includes a flourish of honky tonk piano and a more bluesy vocal.

This is an album that has clearly been recorded on a tight budget, the cover is minimalist to say the least and the production could have been improved had the band been given access to state of the art studio. But despite these constraints and two or three ‘filler’ songs (and lets be honest there aren’t that many 80’s albums that didn’t have some of them) I still found this to be a very enjoyable listen.

‘Fraze Gang’ is available now and for additional information check out www.frazegang.com

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Track List

Blow Me Away
Savior
Broken Hero
Sugar Daddy
Rainbow Eyes
Paradise
High Life
I Stand Alone
You Had It All
Stargazer
Roll With The Punches
Hot Rod

Line UP

Greg Fraser - Vocals/Guitar
Steve Skreebs - Bass
Phil Epp - Drums