Andrew W.K.

The rock music equivalent of Tony Robbins doing a keg stand, AWK is smarter than the dunderheaded partycore I Get Wet appears to be on the surface. First, there hasn't been anything this catchy since "Surrender" and second, the music simultaneously references Obituary and '70s art rockers Sparks, whoever they are.

Andrew W.K. is the Motor City madman who has arrived to preach the true faith of
heavy-metal dementia. He puts the "mess" in "Messiah," raising arena-rock cliches from the
dead and amping them up until they scream for mercy. "Party Hard" is a brilliant
three-minute assault on your synapses: Andrew W.K. tosses Axl, Slash, Queen, Aldo Nova,
early Falco, late Gino Vannelli and the Village People into his own private meat g... More >

It's simple enough once you accept it for what it is, which is as hard as the music is simple (and hard). It's a Ramones album for an era when "Blitzkrieg Bop" is on the Shea p.a. and professional wrestling is on drugs. It's a Gary Glitter/Kiss/Quiet Riot album with no lyrical lapses, tempo shifts, self-expression, or other concessions to human fallibility. The songs don't all sound the same because if they did the thing would be perfect. And it isn't. (Grade - A-)