With an intro of a guy getting into a car and flicking through the radio before the meaty riff to ‘Eyes’ kicks in there’s a nice little homage to Kiss to blast off Kickin’ Valentina’s second full-length. The songs itself though looks forward a few years and is more of a sleazy take on Skid Row meets vintage Gunners than a nod to those greasepaint-adorned stack-heeled titans.
That is just the start though, and If you like your rock and roll relentless you better strap yourself in because if you loved 2015’s debut ‘Super Atomic’ this is an even wilder ride that starts cranking right away with the sing-along sleaze of ‘Turn Me On’. Like we said there’s no real let up here as the sleazy barroom vintage Gunners swagger of ‘Devil’s Hand’ wipes its dirty paw across the windscreen. That in turn gives way to ‘Eat ‘N Run’ which again has tat Sleazy Gun ‘N’ Roses-like vibe, almost bolstered by a great understated melody. At times Kickin’ Valentina comes across almost like a West Coast ‘Circus of Power’ and that can never be a bad place to be – East Coast attitude with West Coast Sleaze.
We’re half way in before there’s an respite: ‘Crazy’ takes it down a notch from that relentless party onslaught – its a great song, slow, but driven with an anthemic quality – hold that its a actually a fucking great song and one that might just take those guys to even bigger heights.
Were back on the reckless road again for ‘Street’ a guitar-fuelled groove machine; whilst ‘Roll Ya One’ rolls the windows down and screams to the sky with one of the catchiest choruses here. ‘Heartbreak’ that follows is a pure foot stomper that more than keeps up the momentum before ‘Burning Love’ (yes it is that ‘Burning Love’) almost ruins it all, it’s a decent cover but feels like the band is holding back presumably out of reverence for the big fella upstairs? Either way in the company of the original material her and even in the spirit of what’s come before it feels, at best, puzzlingly out of place.
Thankfully it’s the title track ‘Imaginary Creatures’ that has the final word and it’s another slower number, a broken vocal over a simple riff that struts and stutters and swings and builds into quite a song to leave us with. This would have been a great album if released at the height of Sunset Strip’s prominence, released today it’s a veritable Time Machine of Rock and Roll!One of the best you’ll hear all year…
