When you become the lead guitarist in one of the biggest stadium bands in the world, you could be excused for sitting back and just enjoying the ride. Not if you are Bon Jovi’s Phil X, who has released possibly his best work to date, in the shape of his latest EP ‘Stupid Good Lookings’ again under his own band name, Phil X & The Drills. Released on May 3rd, ‘Stupid Good Lookings’ boasts six new songs, making up this pool of catchy rock tracks with great vocals & wonderful guitar work throughout. Add to this a plethora of Phil’s guest drummers on each of the tracks and ‘Stupid Good Lookings’ results in a fantastic EP to add to anyone’s collection.
Kicking off with ‘Something To Say’ with its Chickenfoot vibe, Phil X does at times have a Hagar feel to his voice – and that’s never a bad thing. ‘No Woman Of Mine’ teases us in gently with easy guitar & vocals before driving forward with its slow but punchy undertones and arena rock feel. Quinten Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction springs to mind with the opening riff of ‘Too Much For My Own Good’ with its beefed up 60s & 70s feel, which has definitely been brought forward to the present day.
‘I Want My Money Back’ also fools you into thinking you’re in for some light n’ easy entertainment until about a minute in when it kicks off into a full AC/DC-Airbourne kind of feel, especially when Phil lets loose during the solo – classic rock at its very best! ‘Rock n Roll You All Night Long’ could very well be a long lost unreleased track from Van Halen’s ‘1984’ era, with its Hot For Teacher-like guitar work showing that Phil X is more than capable of equalling Eddie Van Halen’s exquisite sound & techniques. The final track does finally slow things down a notch or two with ‘Saddest Girl in The World’, a complete sing-a-long track which will certainly transfer onto the live stage with ease.
All six tracks see Phil joined by Daniel Spree on bass & backing vocals but it’s the collection of who’s who of drummers that make this interesting, most of which have worked with some of the best in the business. Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, Hollywood Vampires, Richie Sambora, Orianthi, Beautiful Creatures, Paul Gilbert), Brent Fitz (Slash, Myles Kennedy, Theory of a Deadman, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil, Union, Gene Simmons), Matt Chamberlain (Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Chris Cornell, David Bowie, Elton John, John Mayer), Abe Laboriel Jnr (Paul McCartney, Sting, Steve Via, Dave Stewart, Avril Lavigne, k.d Lang) & Randy Cooke (Dave Stewart, Ringo Starr, Ian Gillan, Mick Jagger) all play on one track each apart from Laboriel Jnr. who features on two. ‘Stupid Good Lookings’ was produced by Phil X, mixed by Chris Lord Alge and mastered by Ted Jensen.
For the latest details on The Drills and the new release “Stupid Good Lookings,” available for purchase on Friday, May 3rd, visit https://philx.tv/ for complete details.
