Virtual Album Hall #3

from the Depths of Rock 'n' Sleaze 

Alright, freaks and glam rats, it’s time to rifle through the sonic junk drawer and see what kind of hotwired rock ‘n’ roll ghosts we’ve resurrected today. This latest digital crate-digging session—dubbed *Grip*—is a Frankenstein’s monster of jagged New York Dolls offshoot swagger, baroque punk sneers, proto-metal strut, and synth-fueled futurism. If rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be dead, nobody told these records.  

### **David Johansen – *David Johansen***  

Ever wondered what a New York Doll does when the lipstick smears and the band implodes? Easy—he puts on a leather jacket, slugs back a few, and keeps the party going solo. Johansen’s debut is a streetwise strut through the gutters of post-glam NYC, with *Girls* and *Frenchette* leading the charge. It’s got that same sneering cabaret punk charm, but with enough polish that you might actually get through a date without breaking a bottle over someone’s head.  

### **The Stranglers – *The Raven***  

Leave it to the Stranglers to turn punk into some kind of sneering, art-damaged baroque nightmare. These blokes took their swirling menace and injected it with a touch of the grandiose—*Baroque Bordello* practically sounds like the Sex Pistols jamming in Versailles. *Dead Loss Angeles* is a synth-laced dagger, while *Longships* proves these lads weren’t afraid to get weird with it. A punk record for people who sip wine while plotting revolutions.  

### **Axe – *Axe***  

This one’s for the denim ‘n’ leather crowd, the lifers who keep a faded UFO patch on their battle vest and know every lick of Montrose’s *Rock Candy* by heart. Axe’s debut is a slab of melodic hard rock that’s got just enough bite to keep the poseurs at bay. *Life’s Just an Illusion* and *Back on the Streets* pack that late-night FM radio punch, while *Battles* might just make you wanna start a bar fight in slow motion.  

### **Dan Lacksman – *Electric Dreams (2024 Remaster)***  

Synth boffins, rejoice—your patron saint of analog blips and bloops has blessed us with a freshly polished slab of electro-pop wizardry. Lacksman, of Telex fame, was out here conjuring up the future before half of you were even born. *A = 440* is a bleeping, blooping ode to the frequency of life itself, while *Mac or PC* probably would’ve caused a riot at an Atari convention back in the day. If robots ever take over, they’ll be blasting this from the PA system.  

### **Final Verdict?**  

*Grip* isn’t just a playlist—it’s a damn time machine, a grimy, glitter-drenched love letter to the misfits, the weirdos, and the true believers. Whether you’re mainlining sleazy glam, sneering punk, stadium-strutting hard rock, or synth-fueled cybernetic dreams, this haul’s got the goods. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a whiskey to nurse and a city to haunt.