For those who know a lot about the history of L.A.'s club scene, the name
Starwood has a very exciting connotation. Located on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Starwood was a '70s- early- '80s club that booked a lot of important metal, hard rock, punk and new wave bands -- everyone from
Van Halen to
the Go-Go's to
the Runaways played there. So when an L.A. band calls itself
Starwood, one cannot help but remember a wilder, less introspective era of rock music -- an era that
Starwood enthusiastically recalls on
If It Ain't Broke, Break It!. There is nothing even remotely introspective about this 2004 release; the lyrics, like the hooks and melodies, are a throwback to the pop-metal, hard rock and glam rock of the '70s and '80s.
If It Ain't Broke, Break It! is an exercise in trashy, decadent, unapologetically sleazy fun, and
Starwood successfully draws on influences ranging from
the New York Dolls,
Slade and
Alice Cooper to
Cheap Trick,
Quiet Riot,
Kiss,
Mötley Crüe,
Guns N' Roses and
Sweet. No one will accuse these guys of emulating
Kurt Cobain,
Eddie Vedder or
Courtney Love;
If It Ain't Broke, Break It! happily takes us back to a time when hard rockers were concerned with casual sex and partying, not offering an in-depth analysis of their deeper emotions.
Starwood's perspective is definitely a pre-
Nirvana, pre-
Pearl Jam, pre-Creed perspective -- it's the perspective of the leatherbound, motorcycle-riding, politically incorrect bad boys who, back in the day, horrified feminists to no end but never had a problem getting a date.
If It Ain't Broke, Break It! won't win any awards for innovation, but diehard fans of '70s- and '80s- hard rock will be happy to have
Starwood around in the 21st century. ~ Alex Henderson