Mae West were a regional Western New York state band operating out of Buffalo, with lots of string bending and dive bombs with a nod to Van Halen.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Mae West
ALBUM: Mae West
LABEL: Rabbitt Tunes
SERIAL: N/A
YEAR: 1991
CD INFO: Discogs Info
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Clark Rabbitt – vocals, guitars * John LaJoie – guitars, backing vocals * Tim Tomaka – bass, backing vocals * Tony Duchnick – drums, backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Ladies Night * 02 Love Songs * 03 Rocket * 04 Remember Me * 05 Quarters * 06 Slippery When Wet * 07 Not In Love * 08 Don’t Ask Me Why * 09 Nice Song
WEBLINKS: NA
Background
Mae West were a regional Western New York state band operating out of Buffalo. They kinda missed the glam/hair hard rock era by about three years, a bit late to the party even if their music was very much party rock/metal. As a consequence they never landed a big fish record deal, this 1991 self released effort the only testament to their recording output.
The Songs
Mae West deliver mainly guitar based hard rock. There are no keyboards to be heard from where I’m listening, while lead singer Clark Rabbitt has a vocal tone similar to Krokus warbler Marc Storace. The guitar work of John LaJoie provides the point of difference, lots of string bending and dive bombs with a nod to Van Halen right throughout. This is apparent on ‘Rocket’ for instance.
‘Remember Me’ is the obligatory acoustic/electric ballad with ample jangly passages within.Things really lift for the pairing of ‘Quarters’ and ‘Slippery When Wet’, the riffing is furious while the rhythm section really challenge the metronome. ‘Love Songs’ and ‘Not In Love’ are also rockin’ the joint though not as powerful as the previous pair. Mae West throw in a second ballad with ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ which got better as the song went on.
In Summary
Mae West joined a throng of American melodic rock bands who went down the self released independent pathway from 1990 onwards. As a result, many of these albums became obscurities during the pre Internet era, only becoming better known once the Internet opened up. A couple of the guys are still in the biz. Clark Rabbitt is doing solo stuff and can be found on Reverb Nation.
Guitarist John LaJoie has played in many Buffalo based bands since the demise of Mae West, including his most recent venture Flipside, but that was from a few years ago. Mae West would be a prime reissue contender for either Eonian or Metallic Blue Records.
Mae West on Video
Ladies Night
