Glam, bam, thank you, ma’am – rising Brit retro-rocker Bobbie Dazzle sparkles on fun, sassy debut album…
Bobbie Dazzle is rock’n’roll at its brightest, its most colourful, its fullest of almost silly joy. This is a music celebrating the twinkliest bits of glam rock, not of the ’80s metal Sunset Strip variety, but the more British A-road version of the 1970s – Slade's sparkly top hats and massive shoes, the dreamy poetry of Marc Bolan, David Bowie's larger-than-life alien rockstar Ziggy Stardust. On this debut album, it's an introduction with all the sonic excesses, blinding glamour and charismatic camp of their heroes.
Opener Lightning Fantasy announces all this marvellously, with singer and band main-brain Siân Greenway (formerly of Black Country doomsters Alunah) sounding like she's being beamed from 50 years ago, catsuits and all. Merry-Go-Round throws in some Slade-ish quirky British eccentricities, while Back To The City could be a ABBA with the guitars turned up. At the heavier end, Lady On Fire's riff stares lovingly at prime ’70s Aerosmith, while It's Electric speeds past on a quick-fire riff and double-bass drumming that could sound like Motörhead were it not so fabulously dolled up.
It's in thrall to the past, certainly, but there's more depth to Fandabidozi than first meets the ear. Siân began the project after her sister passed away, looking for "an outlet to keep me going. This has shown me that you don’t have to sit in a dark place when you’re going through a dark time." When going through her sister's house, she also found some lyrics written by her dad, a music head with a love of the original glam crop like The New York Dolls. One of these would become the words to Lightning Fantasy, although the Thunderbirds-ish sound effect as she belts out the words 'laser-beam' probably wasn't noted in the margin.
Like Bobbie Dazzle's glittering name, Fandabidozi lives up to its title. It's a strutting, sassy, preening debut with its best dancing boots on, and a cheeky twinkle in its eye.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Slade, Purson, The Hellacopters
Fandabidozi is released on October 4 via Rise Above
