Damone

Out Here All Night

[4/5] Girl fronts Weezer. It’s an idea so sweet, only Rivers Cuomo could’ve thought of it-and he did. (On their best song ever, “I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams.” Look it up.) Boston four-piece Damone have also built a career out of that three-word pitch; but in the tumultuous few years since their criminally overlooked RCA debut album, From The Attic, the band have spit-polished their already slick sound into something that’s more crafty pastiche than pop-culture derivative. The glam-metal jones is intact, but there’s nothing ironic about Out Here All Night. Although they dip their toes in the water, Damone largely manage to avoid swimming in the wacky teen-romp soundtrack depths: The title track is cute and menacing at once, and “On Your Speakers” mates Bon Jovi style whoa-oh’s with a riff straight out of Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny.” And “What We Came Here For” is a sick call-and-response anthem with a Scorpions-sized stadium-rock riff and a double kick drum that, like the album itself, basically punches all other pop-metal girl bands in the tits.
(ISLAND) Luke O’Neil