NICK CURRAN & THE LOWLIFES "REFORM SCHOOL GIRL" Source: Record Racks Date: 03/2010 Writer: Eric Luecking

THIS RECORD WILL MAKE YOUR @$$ MOVE

A couple weeks ago I was passed this new Nick Curran And The Lowlifes' album out of the blue. After a busy few weeks, I finally got a chance to listen to it tonight. Straight out the gate they cover Etta James' “Tough Lover,” which you can hear over on their MySpace page. It takes some stones to cover Etta as she has more than her fair share of sass. Curran and his band more than fill the shoes, though, right down to the '50s howl that Little Richard popularized. They don't really flip it much from the original, but it's well done.

The album is a '50s party from beginning to end even as they give a sock hop feel to AC/DC's “Rocker” to close out the album. Curran has some blazing solos showing off his guitar skills on this one. The drummer's foot had to be about ready to fall off after this minute-and-a-half of scorched wax. Having recorded the album on old analog equipment gives the album authenticity as it sounds like it could have been from some old 78 you found at a neighborhood garage sale.

“Reform School Girl,” with its rhythm n roll and jump blues roots, brings back to life a genre that doesn't get covered often these days. With retro soul all over the place, it's nice to see that a group hasn't forgotten this exciting early rock sound. What's more is that they do it with such pizzazz that they don't just go through the motions, they stand tall with their rock forefathers and might very well have been legends today had they been doing this 50 years ago.