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ENUFF Z'NUFF
10 (Spitfire)
Reviewed by Christophe Chuvan
Ten albums already! It's been anything but a smooth ride for this band since the early days of "Fly High Michelle" and "New Thing". Back then, they were indeed primed to be the next big thing and they even looked the part, down to the flashy MTV videos, rock star posing and metal stylings. Somehow, things didn't quite go as they should have and they never quite recaptured the exposure of these pre-grunge days. Still, developing a loyal following (which includes among others Howard Stern, Dave Letterman and Billy Corgan), they solderied on, and ten years later, they remain among the most underrated, and to a certain extent, undiscovered bands in the power-pop genre.
The glam-rock approach of the first releases worked to the band's detriment, as people quickly catalogued them under the "hair band" flag, and subsequently pushed them into near-obscurity. However, anyone willing to push a bit further and see past the sugarcoating will find one of the most talented songwriting team this side of Lennon-McCartney (yeah, I dare mention the big two) in Donnie Vie and Chip Znuff. The heart and soul of Enuff Znuff, these two "brothers" can produce hooks the size of Titanic in their sleep and write pop anthems with one hand while the other hand's composing the catchiest chord progression since "A Hard Day's Night".
This release, their tenth, as the title suggests, sees the band in full form. The heavier, metal-oriented leanings of the early albums have been trimmed down, giving place to a cleaner and "janglier" sound, closer to that of their idols Cheap Trick. From the opener "There goes my heart", the listener finds himself in familiar surroundings as Donnie & Chip's knack for instantly catchy melodic hooks shines through the entire track (and album). It is a testament to the strength of the songwriting that every track on here could be released as a radio single, although particularly noteworthy are, along the aforementioned "There goes my heart", the funny and irreverent "Your heart's no good (but I love your face)", the shiny "All right", and "Fly away".
The term "radio-friendly" has come to carry negative vibes these days but when applied to these songs, it catches on a different meaning, reminiscent of an era when pop was a vibrant, inventive and vital musical force. A far cry from the factory-produced, synthetic, teen-oriented pop in vogue these days, these songs have heart and soul to the core (but you won't find them playing on TRL any time soon). If I had to be picky, I'd say that some of the songs suffer a bit from the cheap production, not that unlike of a very good demo. Alas, U2 they ain't and these guys are notable for usually working on a limited budget so I figure we can cut them some slack on that score. Give them a chance, pop that CD in your car, turn up the volume and see if you can stop that grin coming to your face. Pop album of the year in my book.
© 2001 - Christophe Chuvan