Released By : 100% Rock Records
Genre : Hard Rock
Links : http://www.myspace.com/babyjaneaustralia
Tracklist:
01. Are You Listening
02. Give It All Up
03. Li’l Gutters
04. Quicksand
05. Town Called Sinner Stone
06. Can You Keep a Secret?
07. Twenty Too Many
08. Miss Scorpio
09. Four Rusted Egos
10. Demontonic
11. Tell Me (What I Need to Know)
It’s funny how something as universal as rock music can have enough unique attributes that you can usually recognise where a band hails from without actually being told. Aussie hard rockers BABYJANE are one such band and their brand of simplistic yet effective pub rock is undeniably Australian rock in every aspect. Take a large helping of AC/DC, mix in some of THE POOR and add some ANGELS and you get a fair idea on what lies in store for you on the band’s debut album ARE YOU LISTENING. Sure there’s a slight hint of sunset strip sleaze rock and some more straightforward melodic hard rock but the Aussie pub rock/boogie rock sound is where the heart of this band lies.
The album actually both benefits and suffers because of this and I’ll tell you why…. For starters the good thing here is that for fans of Aussie rock music you can easily feel comfortable grabbing a copy of this one, and for us Aussies it seems we have yet another band to proud of and if they break out in the way I think they can we can all be even prouder. Now though, the depreciating factor in all of this is that the album really is a bit too repetitive and there isn’t really enough stand-out moments to get people too excited, except for maybe a little tune called FOUR RUSTED EGOS which basically drops all of the Aussie influence for a straight-up Euro sounding melodic rock track, other better songs include ARE YOU LISTENING, QUICKSAND and TWENTY TOO MANY.
I think this disc would have benefitted from taking two tracks away and cleaning it up to be a nine song, short and punchy rawk ‘n’ roll album, but that’s just personal taste right there really. To be honest, there’s not much work that needs to be done in order for these guys to make some inroads over the ocean so it’s just a matter now of the band pushing the album as hard as they can and relentlessly touring just like any good rock band does. I know I for one will be keeping an eye on BABYJANE and when they break out overseas I’ll be able to say “I told you so!”….Hmmph, maybe not, but you never know you’re luck.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 8/10