Album Review : Big House – Pretty Things (Limited Edition EP Cassette, 1990)

Bad timing. Any band that was releasing their first album in the early 90’s, and still had a 80’s hair metal sound knows these words very well. When 1990 hit it was as if a switch was turned off. Then when Smells Like Teen Spirit hit the airwaves, not only was the switch off, but the transformer blew up.

Canadian band Big House was one of those bands. They had the look, the sound and the attitude. However, the buying public wasn’t buying it, as it were. Too bad. If they had found a time machine to take them back to the Sunset Strip in 1982, they may have been one of the big ones. As it was, they were a footnote at the end of the era.

Refuse 2 Run – The first thing I notice about this one is the bass. The bass is really prominent on this one (it actually is on the entire album), which is unique for a band in this era. I get a bit of Paul Stanley in the vocals, which obviously is a good thing. Sort of a Kiss meets Cinderella, meets Poison.

Dollar in My Pocket (Pretty Things) – Sweet bass and wonderful vocals dominate this one for me. The vocal enunciations almost have a faux British accent at times, which can sometimes be distracting, and can come across as fake and hokey. It seems to fit in well here though. The blend of softer vocals, screams and background vocals are a nice touch., and the guitar work near the end is pretty cool.

All Nite – I like this one. The vocal mix of the whole band when they sing “All Nite” and “All Right” sound really great. It was a great song to blast out the car windows while cruising the main drag.

Can’t Cry Anymore – Wailing guitar starts this one off, and the great guitar continues throughout. Of course there is that thumping bass. I think I hear a bit of Slaughter in there. There is a little bit of wah influenced guitar near the end, which is unique as well for this genre.

A nice 4 song EP. None of the songs are weak, and they don’t sound too generic. They will still hold up in 2017. All 4 songs were included in the band’s 1992 eponymous first album. For a review of that album, and some more in depth info about the band, please visit Mikeladano.com.

8.5/10