Enuff Znuff - Dissonance

  by Lisa Torem

published: 26 / 6 / 2010

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Review

You can almost tell from the first guitar riffs that Enuff Znuff hailed from Chicago. They are a no nonsense band that fuse riffs and bad-ass vocals through a sieve of mania. Don’t look for airy pontifications. But, if you like wolfing your dinner down with your feet up on the couch while watching the Blackhawks, these are your guys. Donnie Vie on vocals and guitar and Chip Z’Nuff, on bass and vocals do quite a good job holding down the fort with help from Jake E. Lee on lead guitar and Vinnie Castaldo on acoustic drums. This meat and potato band, which was formed in 1984, has been through some hard times; both original guitarist Derek Frigo and drummer Ricky Parent are no longer with us, and throughout their career they were often usurped by trends that kept them under the radar. ’New Thing’ and ‘Fly High Michelle’ received immediate acclaim, however, and to this day, they pull out crowds at both their full electric and acoustic performances. Their new album 'Dissonance' has the comfort you desire from a skilled garage band and some unusual cover choices. ‘When Doves Cry’ differs markedly from Prince’s version, but it’s lively and expansive. ‘Code Red’ has the most originality in terms of stretching the vocal envelope and the tune dedicated to their native city, Chicago, has some unarguable, back-in-the-hood sincerity, “Living down in Chicago for the rest of my life/Running round with friends/Drinking, smoking, passing time/Living down in Chicago for the rest of my life.” The title track ‘Dissonance’ is certainly attention grabbing and as solid a rock anthem as one would expect coming from a band that’s weathered so many storms. I like that fact that ‘Sometimes’ has a pliable harmonic structure and poses some imponderables. ‘Rollaway’ is the classic sanguine ballad and it has a haunting beauty, “All my pieces scattered/Roll away far away/Leaving everything that matter/Gone astray,” sings a piercingly emotional Vie. The closer ‘Run for Your Life’ seemed a little forced at times, though, to their credit, it’s always difficult to pull off a Lennon-McCartney classic. You’ll need a few solid listens to really explore ‘Dissonance,’, but once you do, you’ll be friends for life.

Track Listing:-

1 Dissonance
2 Fine Line
3 Lazy Dazy
4 Rollaway
5 High
6 Altered States
7 Playground
8 Sometimes
9 Joni Lynn
10 Chicago
11 Code Red
12 When Doves Cry
13 Run for Your Life