Rich Kid Express – Psychodelic

Rich Kid Express is the brainchild of Rob Richardson, a man with a real passion for early UK Glam and Hard Rock from the classic period of the late 70’s/early 80’s.

Written by: Explorer

ARTIST: Rich Kid Express
ALBUM: Psychodelic
LABEL: Squib Kick Records
SERIAL:N/A. CD, Streaming, Digital Download
YEAR: 2020
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

LINEUP: – Rob Richardson – guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Get Outta My Life * 02 Cross The Line * 03 Do It Your Way * 04 Lovesick Blues * 05 Psychodelic * 06 Sleep When I’m Dead * 07 Clock Strikes Four * 08 Kaleidoscope Caravan * 09 Pink Eye * 10 R.K.R

WEBLINKS: Site Link | FB Page | Bandcamp

Background

On the back of the most excellent Bubblegum Radio EP earlier this year comes the debut album from Rich Kid Express (Rich Kid Express). Rich Kid Express is the brainchild of Rob Richardson, a man with a real passion for early 70’s UK Glam and Hard Rock from the classic period of the late 70’s/early 80’s.

He was also involved with the Bad Somethings album back in 2018, but this new album is a huge step up from that release and the Glam has been put on the back burner somewhat for what is essentially an album that is Rich Kid Express’s homage to that classic period of music that all of us here on the esteemed pages of Glory Daze love and cherish.

The Songs

10 tracks with, it has to be said straight away no filler at all. Everything is direct, concise and bang on the money. ‘Get Outta My Life’ is a barnstorming start with a riff and chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on that classic KISS Ace Frehley solo album from 1978, hell even Richardson’s vocals have an air of Frehley about them.

‘Cross the Line’ follows in a similar vein with an immensely enjoyable chugging guitar motif that evokes Ratt at their very best. ‘Do It Your Way’ mixes things up nicely with a tune that’s slightly understated, with Horns, Honky Tonk keys and an extremely effective cowbell giving the whole thing a feel of classic Aerosmith about it. ‘Lovesick Blues’ is a straight ahead no nonsense rocker, and the title track with its deep down dirty riff is a quite hypnotic rocker, and a half sung/half spoken vocal that really adds to the flavour.

‘Sleep When I’m Dead’ careers along like an out of control locomotive, whereas ‘Clock Strikes Four’ has a rather doom laden intro sounding like, dare I say it Black Sabbath before going off into a classic slice of hard rock straight out of 1979. ‘Kaleidoscope Caravan’ demonstrates that Rich Kid Express are no one trick pony with a number that has a poppy feel to it courtesy of an infectious chorus and a guitar break that has some glammy inflections.

‘Pink Eye’, to my ears has classic Ratt written all over, and that’s no bad thing in my book, and even the vocal has a Stephen Pearcy feel to it. The closer ‘R.K.R’ (Rich Kid Rocks), doesn’t let the album down at all and the lyric ‘I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel’ in some ways sums up this album.

It is in a lot of ways Rob Richardson’s paean to an era that he clearly loves with a passion, and judging by what he has done here with this album he’s succeeded in every way. Although hard-rocking throughout, there’s always a melodic feel to it all, which I’m guessing comes from his love of Glam and Bubblegum rock.

In Summary

‘Psychodelic’ is an immensely strong collection of excellent hard-rocking songs which stand on their own as a quite formidable album. Anyone with even a passing interest in that classic era of Melodic Hard Rock from the 70’s/ 80’s would do well to check out. The album will be available through all streaming services as well as limited physical copies via Bandcamp upon release on 30th October 2020.

Video

Psychodelic Album Sampler Video