Chester Kamen and The Loves

Americanized

7/10

By Decibel Report - Jul 1, 2020

With a gilt-edged reputation as a session guitarist for an illustrious clientele of blue-chip groups and performers, this fifth band release by Kamen & The Loves explores a taut and cool-some song structure glued together by tight band interplay and an idiosyncratic and charismatic vocal delivery by Michael Cahill.

These buzzy, bouncy and twangy collection of tracks err on the side of catchy with Kamen’s intense demonstration of his fretboard craft complementing rather than dominating each song.

Produced by former Blockheads drummer Steve Monti, the overall tenor of sound isn’t dissimilar to that found on top-draw new wave albums from the 1980s only more canny and sophisticated with state of the art production nuances.

Full of character and musical integrity, Americanized will yank plenty of ears to its slightly offbeat charms.