For someone who is presumably a member of the nobility,
Sir Lord Von Raven sure doesn't seem very attuned to social niceties. A quick spin of his first album,
Please Throw Me Back in the Ocean, suggests he's loud and boisterous in public, he speaks with impropriety about the fair sex, and I'd venture he enjoys expanding his consciousness through artificial means. But he does know a few things about rock & roll, and
Please Throw Me Back shows he can throw a pretty good party; this album delivers some psych-addled garage rock with a healthy side portion of glam and some dance beats for garnish. More than a few acts following a similar path do so with tongue firmly in cheek, but
Von Raven's straight-ahead cover of
Fats Domino's "I'm Ready" testifies to the fact this guy likes his music real and rowdy, and the
T. Rex-meets-
Ramones wobble of "PC Action," the
Stones-style strut of "What's a Boy to Do" and "Spit on Your Grave"'s old-school punk sneer demonstrate
Von Raven and his band like a balanced diet representing the various fast 'n' loud food groups. Sometimes the willful sloppiness of the guitar work gets to be a bit much, and the nasal pout of
Von Raven's voice makes
Johnny Thunders sound like
Roy Orbison by the time "In the End" winds to a close, but overall
Sir Lord Von Raven throws a pretty rockin' party at the royal estate, and
Please Throw Me Back in the Ocean is the next best thing to an engraved invite to his next bash. Just remember to check on the dress code before you show up. ~ Mark Deming