TOKYO DRAGONS – Give Me The Fear

If you missed AC/DC with Bon Scott, or you missed Queen, or Thin Lizzy in the late 70’s to early 80’s, don’t fret; Tokyo Dragons has arrived! Not to be confused as another fad band like The Darkness or The Strokes, the Dragons are the real deal. Brash, in-your-face Rock N’ Roll served up unapologetically with a flair for the dramatic.

Hailing from the UK, Tokyo Dragons has embraced the music of a past generation with enough zeal and authenticity that you might mistakenly think you missed them the first time around. The look and the sound are unmistakably Golden Age of R ‘n’ R. “Do You Wanna,” the second track from their debut release, Give Me The Fear, sounds like a young Paul Stanley on vocals, and could easily be mistaken as something to have come off KISS or Hotter Than Hell. “Come On Baby” teases like an old Ted Nugent number, and “Ready Or Not” sounds reminiscent of old UFO. The Dragons seem to have drawn from every band that put together three-chord Power Pop, yet they have made a sound that is remarkably their own.

Tokyo Dragons is made up of three guys who have been friends from their early teens: guitarist/vocalist Steve Lomax, lead guitarist Mal Bruk, and drummer Phil Martini. After numerous fellows in the bass department, Mathias Stady is the current man holding down the low end. The twin guitar set-up gives them a thick AC/DC kind of sound, although it tends to be a bit brighter and brash than the infamous Young duo. The four men look like they walked straight out of 1982, with their long hair and wearing nothing but t-shirts and denim. The adage of “Keep It Simple, Stupid” sure paid off for these guys; they have recently become the talk of the music underground as the next big thing. This is a bright star in the veil of darkness, which can be described as the current state of music.

Straightforward Rock anthems destined for stadium greatness are what make Tokyo Dragons’ music so exciting. Their no-holds-barred approach is not to create something new, but rather to create something true to themselves. This isn’t reinventing the wheel, it is Rock music played by Rock Stars. It’s Friday night, let-it-all-hang-out music that reminds you why they call it Rock in the first place.