Neurotic Outsiders – Neurotic Outsiders

This review appears now because there was talk about this record over on Mike’s kick-ass site, in the comments for another record’s review, and it made me want to play this again. And since I had the thing on, I figured I might as well write about it.  So here it is.

I picked this CD up ages ago, on the recommendation of Mike, our almighty Lebrain. He’s a big GnFnR fan, and when he described it, it sounded right up my alley. And you know, on paper, it sounds like it should be weird – Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols together with Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan of GnFnR and… um, John Taylor of Duran Duran? It all made sense right up until the Rio guy… but then again, these are professional, talented musicians so it’s my own damn mental block that got stuck on him being there. And as it turned out, he played just fine on this record. So there, stupid mental block.

Wiki also tells me that Billy Idol and Steve Stevens were originally slated to be in the band and, you know what, I can hear that too.

Anyway, all of these elements coming together (as they did) actually work really well. Interesting that McKagan moved from bass to guitar and let Taylor play bass. Or maybe not, what do I know about these things? Maybe McKagan could just as easily have played the drums. 

I like a lot of the songs here. It’s punk, it’s rawk, it’s fast and loud. I don’t think any one track stood out more than the others, it played well as a whole. I was working here in the basement and not really paying close attention to the lyrics as I putzed about, but I was hearing the music loud and clear. I’d probably want to go back (with the good headphones on) and read a lyric sheet before commenting on that content here. But I do know that the songs themselves sound great. This group would have been great fun to see in a live setting, particularly a smaller venue, even better if it were a bar. 

Shame that this is their only release, and that it’s now out of print. Some quick digging online shows you can still get a decent copy between $10-$15, and I’d say it’s worth every penny. Two thumbs up.