When you open it, you will see detailed liner notes, letting fans know Sinful Lilly put a lot of honest, sincere work into it.
And they did the same thing with their order of their songs.
"Truth or Consequence" isn't a song with a slow and quiet musical intro. Even better-it has a rippling, flowing, speaker-to-speaker guitar solo and a driving beat, neither of which let up at all in this song. Lead vocalist/guitarist Fredi Handshoe's gritty vocals unleash unhindered lyrics that have a complementary theme to the music.
Sinful Lilly keeps the rock & roll fire burning in the next song, "Guilty" From my point of view, my initial thought when the song was in queue was, "Great title; I'd love to see how this song sounds." And I was not let down. There is even more grit from start to finish. Fredi even graces us with a guitar break in the middle of a song.
After hearing two songs with strong unrelenting, steady guitar riffs and heart-stopping beats that will without a doubt move through your body (it did mine), I knew a rock ballad could have a like effect. I'm here to tell you, if you don't like the heart-on-the-sleeve, victim mentality portrayed in most of the famous rock ballads, you will be happy with "Crack in My Heart." What makes this song beautiful is the lyrics. Fredi is mindful that breakups are painful for both people, and that there will be life after both of them afterwards. It's a song women especially need to hear if they, themselves, go through a breakup. I walked away feeling reassured, probably more than I have for this kind of song. My favorite line is, "Take a picture, make it last."
"Nothing Left," to me, is less gritty, loud, and hard than "Truth or Consequence" and "Guilty." But it is no less awesome. The band maintains the quality and rhythm of the music. The best feature in the song is the vocals when they sing "Nothing left at all."
Before I introduce and give my impressions of the next song, I'd like to provide some insight about it, because "Fate" is a different song from the other five. For anyone reading this who is a lifetime fan like I am of the Bangles and (still) has the Different Light album, know that are timeless all-girl band 80s anthems like "Manic Monday," "Walk Like an Egyptian," and "If She Knew What She Wants." And then there is "Following." Led by Michael Steele, it is an acoustical solo. And it is subdued. Some of the lyrics are, "You call me a loser/You call me a shadowed fool/...Why do you call me?/ Why do you look for me?/ Why do your eyes follow me the way they do?" Those who are not musically open-minded or gifted would scratch their heads, wondering why this song is on the album. This is an isolated song, a misfit. But if they keep listening, there's going to be a better song right after that to put a bow on a great 1986 album. You might even discover Steele's talent, and it spoke to you.
With that said, let me go to "Fate." It is not the good ol' loud rock Sinful Lilly gives us in "Truth or Consequence," not even the heartfelt jam of "Crack in My Heart." "Fate" is subdued, has deeper ("torture"), darker ("misery"), even morbid lyrics ("the hope I had is no longer there")...But don't hit the "stop" button. Stop and really listen to this song. Do you hear the talent coming from this band that you didn't hear in the other songs? I did.
Like Different Light, there's a better song to end the CD...and to lighten up the mood ("1, 2, READY!"): A cover of Alice Cooper's "Spirits Rebellious." from The Eyes of Alice Cooper.
What a way to start and end a CD, and have some musical meat to chew on! Let me remind you: this is Volume 1. Stick around for Volume 2.
Sinful Lilly is a rock band from Richmond, KY.
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| (Left) Nikki Valklix, bass and backup vocals; (Right) Fredi Handshoe, lead vocals and guitar |
