PC69

Electrified (Digital Dimension)
by Martin Popoff

German-based act PC69 (formerly Pink Cream 69) have been pounding the boards to moderate success for eight records now, intitially fronted by Helloween’s Andi Deris and as of recent, Brit David Readman. But after an ill-received experimental detour along the way into alt.metal, the band returns for their first US release ever, Electrified riding those same razor-sharp rails as Helloween and Gamma Ray, although scooping up an odd assortment of tricks from Accept, Scorpions, and various hair bands along the way. Bathed in the splintered refracted light of 1999’s many metal flavors, you wouldn’t necessary psyche this as House Of Lords revisited, but it is, and that’s a good thing. High vocals, higher harmonies, slick production, and a generally joyous chrome that welds Joe Lynn Turner to nimble Slip Of The Tongue-era Whitesnake, add that Purple touch to a healthy marriage between Hamburg and Hollywood. Classic rock to all those whose preferred classics hail from the ’80s, saved and elevated by Readman’s multiple vocal touchstones and those very electric guitars.
(6661 W. Tropicana Ave. #202 Las Vegas, NV 89103)