Get This

"Real" rock continues rolling into the mainstream's consciousness. Of course the sound's not really "real"; it's actually recombinant, whether you're talking about Jet's crop-dusting of Deep Purple and Stones riffs or the Marshall stacks 'n' spandex phenomenon of everyone's favorite glammy bogeymen in the Darkness. The young English quintet Hurricane Party enters the fray with a debut EP as brazenly repackaged as the rest, but not quite as satisfying in the hook department. Perhaps the biggest touchstone on Get This is Bon Jovi, as Hurricane vocalist Richie Hevanz has a similarly brash and sassy wail, and his mates rock the hard-bottomed strut of pre-decadence hair metal. But while the anthemic "Roadstar" and the hearty, bluesy "Last Survivor" are solid, they're not memorable over repeated listens. Hurricane Party has the chops for sure. But to effectively revive these vintage rock tropes, there needs to be some modern-day nodding to accessibility and immediacy. (Think the irresistible thump of Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl.") Thankfully, one thing that hasn't slithered out of the past are the cloying synthesizers — Get This scraps them in favor of economic arrangements centering around dueling guitar solos and big gang vocal choruses. "Big Rock Show" is laughably unimaginative, yet satisfyingly Mötley Crüe-ish. Hurricane Party's sonic similarity to bygone big-timers isn't surprising, considering the combo's tutelage under the eye of A&R vet John Kalodner and the presence of Black Crowes and Aerosmith mixer Kevin Shirley. Speaking of the Crowes, "Crown of Thorns" nods nicely to their cocksure groove. Hurricane Party definitely needs some seasoning, but the potential in the Get This EP sufficiently teases its eventual full-length.