Tokyo Motor Fist

Tokyo Motor Fist is the fulfilment of a promise two New Jersey men had been making for years. Ted Poley of Danger Danger and Steve Brown of Trixter met on the same club circuit when both their bands were starting out, stayed friends ever since, and kept saying they would make a record together one day. Frontiers made it real. The rhythm section is Greg Smith (bass), who has passed through Ted Nugent, Rainbow and Alice Cooper, and Chuck Burgi (drums), who has played with Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult and Billy Joel. Eleven tracks run just thirty-nine and a half minutes. Brown wrote the songs, produced them and played the guitar — all of it. The opening strike of “Pickin' Up the Pieces” settles the direction. “Love Me Insane” and “Shameless” pile in, “Love” catches the breath, and on “Black and Blue” and “You're My Revolution” Burgi's drums step forward. A Def Leppard way of stacking vocals surfaces repeatedly, and reviewers reached for that name often. Poley's voice and Brown's songs: a record that shows, without explaining itself, that this is enough.