SCARY HAIRY – Intent To Deliver

With the help of MySpace.com and labels like Retrospect Records, that deal heavily in the ideal of giving bands a second chance, a lot of “lost” 80’s material is now seeing the light of day onto the CD format. The debut release of USA’s Midwestern based Scary Hairy who was formed based on a suggestion of Shrapnel guitar virtuoso Michael Lee Firkins. Scary Hairy originally came closer than most startup bands from the early 90’s in regards to achieving success. They were originally signed and released a debut with Atco Records and then were subsequently passed over due to the rising Grunge explosion.

The Intent To Deliver re-issue is special in one regard in that the vocalist of the band, Michael Beck (ex-Manila Thrills), was afforded the opportunity to re-produce and master the original material from the 90’s. That’s a luxury that most bands taking a part in “re-issues” sometimes never get. For the most part the re-production seems to have helped, even though this “re-produced” version still sounds slightly dated but the end results are not a deterrent.

Musically, the band’s material is more a strong mix of 80’s-ish Hard Rock versus “Hair Metal”. The songs are strong while the choruses aren’t as overpowering as one would expect from a Melodic Rock band. What is appealing is the dual guitar work of Dinnel and Meer as the duo comes across akin to classic Marc Ferrari/Byran Jay of Keel. Beck’s vocals seem to tread closer to early Queensrÿche than they did with his Manila Thrills work, especially on tracks like “Justice Never Arrives” which could have easily been culled off Queensrÿche’s debut EP.

There are a few nagging points regarding this release. One is that it is only eight tracks in length with a bonus track cover of Sabbath’s “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath”. This also hurts when the pure “Rockin’ time” gets diminished even further by ballad tracks like “Lonely Children” and slow rockers like “Livin’ Hand To Mouth” as the band’s strongest material is the out and out Hard Rock. One major platter production irritant is the approximately seven minute “bonus track” of silence that precedes the bonus Sabbath cover.

Bottom line, this is a respectable debut of Hard Rock that might have been a decent beginning to a band that got squashed by the Grunge Movement. When the band rocks hard they do have that certain classic Keel appeal and even tinges of earliest Queensrÿche. Based on that comparison alone they are worth a look at or at least a listen to!

Lineup

Michael Thomas Beck – Vocals
Harry Dinnel – Guitar
Kevin Meer – Guitar
Steve Aherns – Drums, Backing Vocals
Rob Robinson – Bass