Illegal Tender [EP]

If you haven't heard the first two tracks from this CD on the radio yet, you will soon!

Jason Hill, Brian Karscig, Robbie Dodds, Jeff Winfrey, and Mark Maigaard of San Diego-based Convoy proved they knew how to craft a hit in 2001 with Caught Up In You, off their second album, Black Licorice. Critics compared their sound to an updated Rolling Stones with post-alternative West Coast overtones, but few picked up on the strength of their seventies' glitter/glam influence.

We're not talking the second-generation glam of the eighties' big-haired American boy-bands. We're talking original sin - the Velvet Underground and Stooges-inspired rock genre propelled to the forefront by David Bowie, T. Rex, and Roxy Music. Yes, Virginia, there was music in the seventies before Cheap Trick, disco, and Some Girls. Although never huge in America, glam dominated the scene elsewhere with partying in excess and decadence to the platform-stomping beats of outrageously coifed rockers like Slade, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Queen, New York Dolls, Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper, and Kiss.

When Hill, Karscig, and Maigaard (with Dodds joining in on some) headed to record a side project at Versailles, France, in 2003 to 2004, who would've guessed that they'd produce a masterpiece capturing the sound and feeling of that earlier generation? Don't get me wrong, this isn't retro-rehash - this is as fresh as it gets! They've created a thoroughly updated and fuller sound not even dreamed of way back when. They've reinvented themselves to create a whole new concept of rock interpreted through the self-absorbed and over-indulgent views of a slightly delusional dude who thinks of himself as l'empereur Louis XIV. Let them eat cake indeed!

While this CD does not maintain the same high level of energy as their self-released Pink and Blue EPs, it demonstrates a wider range of styles. From the raucous "me, me, me, me!" of Louis to the club-friendly Finding Out True Love is Blind, you'll be hooked! The rockin' (& sexually-charged) Illegal Tender carries the theme, followed by the boy's Marc, a touching homage to the late Bolan of T. Rex. In the spirit of the band and in anticipation of their upcoming album, keep asking for more, more, more!

I saw these guys play when they toured with The Killers last summer. They had released a few EPs but were not even signed to a label. At the same time they were getting known in the UK. Six months later they are being played on the radio all the time, and are this season's hot new band from nowhere. Louis XIV is named after the sun king who liked a bit of luxury. They are from San Diego and started about two years ago in 2003. They sound a little like The Fall and some early British New Wave groups but they carry it off like their own. Their song "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" is a massive single. It has great interplay between male and female vocals. All the songs on this EP are brilliant. The 1950s pinups shots are fun too. As Albert Einstein has said: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." This is a band to check out.

Louis XIV is single-handedly going to bring back the pompous sexy glorious sounds of 70s glam rock. This EP is a shining star among the otherwise dull sky of modern rock. Complete with glitter eye makeup and lyrics that make a girl's (and possibly guy's) thighs tense, this dirty little album is the best thing since Ziggy Stardust. The track Illegal Tender is by far and away the best but that is a hard call to make. Front man Jason Hill has a speciality for cheeky yet sultry lyrics and a great mix of glam and almost AC/DC like riffs. This is an absolute must have!