Enuff Z’Nuff have been on quite the hot streak lately. The latest album from Blue Island’s native sons, Finer Than Sin, is their third in three years. Granted, last year’s Hardrock Nite was a Beatles tribute album, but that’s still quite the feat. And it was just earlier this year that founder and namesake Chip Z’Nuff released an album of his own, Perfectly Imperfect. Add a slew of tour dates all around the globe and Enuff Z’Nuff are one of the few bands of their era grinding it out like the good ol’ days, when the album/tour cycle was endless and breaks were nonexistent.
If you thought this nonstop rock approach would result in creative burnout, think again. Finer Than Sin picks up right where their latest album of original music, Brainwashed Generation, left off. Not only that, but it’s an even harder edged album, at least by Enuff Z’Nuff standards. I’m not sure what to attribute this to, as longtime guitarists Tory Stoffregen and Tony Fennell (the latter of Ultravox fame) have always been quite the compelling duo. Yet for some reason or another, their cunning balance of AC/DC inspired riffs and jangly power pop melodies stands front and center on this release.
Now several years into the post-Donnie Vie era, Enuff Z’Nuff showcases a newfound confidence in which they’re able to explore diverse territory while still retaining their identity and not deviating off course. The simple, straightforward pop-infused hard rock of songs like “Catastrophe” and “Steal the Light” wouldn’t sound out of place on an early EZ release, with their infectious harmonies and debaucherous lyrics (Enuff Z’Nuff seems to namedrop cocaine as much as Dio did rainbows.) The same can be said for the lighthearted “Trampoline”, as well as “Temporarily Disconnected”, the latter of which wouldn’t sound out of place in a late 90s PG-13 comedy trailer.
On the unexpected side of things is a whole slew of classic rock and pop sounds. “Intoxicated” channels the bittersweet, orchestral nostalgia of 70s AM pop, while “Hurricane” is a blatantly Beatles inspired slab of psychedelia, daring you to to immerse yourself within its hypnotic grooves. In the words of Lennon, “Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.” The high speed glitter metal of the aptly titled “Lost and Out of Control” wins the honor of “choice cut”, coming off like a whiskey fueled fistfight between Sweet and Motörhead. And as far as the cover of Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” goes, well, at least it isn’t “Anarchy in the U.K.” for the two zillionth time.
Things have never been easy for EZ, but that hasn’t stopped Chip and the gang from making it look as such. At the going rate, I’m sure I’ll be reviewing another Enuff Z’Nuff album sometime within the next 365 days. Until then, I’ll be rocking out to this banger of an album, an outing that is indeed Finer Than Sin. Oversized sunglasses, wild hats, and recreational substances that may or may not be legal are not included…just saying!
7 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Cheap Trick, Slade, The Beatles