Blackout (CD - 2006)

Rocking a killer Joan Jett shag and the most prominent cleavage of any female guitarist since the heyday of Lita Ford's solo career, Canadian pop-metal heroine Britt Black (former lead guitarist for the Lilith Fair's gothy cousin Bif Naked) starts her solo career with the proudly retro Blackout. Those former Runaways are clearly among Black's main influences, along with Pat Benatar, fellow Canucks Loverboy, and a generation's worth of poodle-haired rockers both male and female. These 13 songs are crisp riff-rockers without a shred of substance beyond their inherent catchiness, with fist-in-the-air choruses and the occasional flashy guitar solo. Although it seems vaguely weird to be reviewing a new album in 2006 that would have been a perfect fit on MTV's Headbanger's Ball in 1987, this kind of semi-metallic, semi-punk rock & roll never truly goes out of style, and the best songs here (specifically "Sick & Tired" and "Good Girls") will bring out the spandex-clad bandana rocker in anyone. ~ Stewart Mason minimize