For a band whose moniker celebrates
Lou Reed, this Cleveland group is remarkably devoid of any traces of him or
the Velvet Underground. Rather,
the New Lou Reeds cook up a stew of messy, ballsy, barroom rock with traces of
Thin Lizzy,
Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the kind of gut-punch '60s garage rock celebrated on the initial (and oft-cited) Nuggets box set compilation. The finest rave-ups come with the tight punch of the first three tracks, "Lookin' for a Boogaloo," "Michael Jones," and "Exploit Me." Elsewhere, on
the Stooges-influenced "Captain America," for example, the band falters a bit. And the lengthy exploration "Small Town Blues" seems like indulgent, jammy filler (same for the pseudo-bluesy "Poverty Stinks," where the white blues-wailer shtick gets a bit old). Overall, though, there is enough to impress on this disc:
Top Billin' is a collection of tough barroom fare from Cleveland from a group to keep an eye on.