Dirty Penny

Promoter Response History:
Date: 10/26/2007 2:04:57 AM
Status: Selected
Response: Welcome, after reviewing your EPK we are inviting your band to take part in the Shure Presents: OriginalSessions National Band Search. email us (osarthouse@aol.com) or call 201-795-1878 ASAP to comfirm your accepted status and go over show schedules and any other details or questions you might have.
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OriginalSessions

- Shure Presents

"these guys- all ages 24-25 - look exactly like Motley Crue circa 1985, had Motley Crue's voraciously abused substance been wheat grass." Spin Magazine , September 2007 ( along with interviews and a review of the band's journey at Rocklahoma and a full page photo ) - Spin Magazine sept. 2007

"Dirty Penny, from Santa Cruz, California, hit the stage with both hands on the wheel and the pedal to the floor. New to the hair/glam scene, but looking like Motley Crue from 1982, they played a roaring set of originals that had the crowd on their feet and their fists in the air. Songs like "Midnight Ride," "Running Wild" and "Vendetta" had the crowd begging for more as their set came to an end. Pick up their debut release, "Take it Sleazy" and get an instant flashback to 1982."
- All access Magazine , Sept. 2007

Ah, Dirty Penny.

Formally known as Antidote, the band recently changed their name because of legal issues. Not long ago, Dirty Penny released their debut effort Take It Sleezy. 12 tracks in total, the album is an exceptionally strong freshman effort from this California based quartet. With the power of Myspace and word of mouth, Dirty Penny entered the JPOT Music contest, and won a spot on the main stage to Rocklahoma. These boys look like Motley Crue in 1984 and in some ways they sound even better.

Take It Sleezy opens with "Midnight Ride," a throwback to classic 80s glam. Strong riffs, screechy vocals, and -yes, a cowbell - mean this song would fit on Motley Crue's debut Too Fast for Love.

Of course, Dirty Penny are a new band, and that means they have a sound all their own. Singer Binge Daniels can play it straight or dirty with his voice, and that's refreshing. While Vains of Jenna frontman Lizzy DeVine is 100% scratchy, Daniels can be smooth when it's necessary. There are times on Take It Sleezy when this is necessary. The boys in Dirty Penny also know how to harmonize. This is first evident on "Hot & Heavy," but exceptionally well executed on the appropriately titled "Scream and Shout." The latter track features all the requisite themes of a great sleaze-glam effort: parental discontent, including the need for a strong father figure. Consider the lyrics: "Check out the papers/Who's number 1?/Oh my goodness, it's your good for nothing son/Look at me now.../Daddy are you proud? (Ahem, Nikki Sixx anyone?)

The best track on Take It Sleezy is "Vendetta." Already the band's calling card, it seems like everyone at Rocklahoma knew the words to this song. This is no small fall feat considering Dirty Penny is an unsigned band. They gained a bit of name recognition during the Crue Fest (Hollywood) last summer. (On August 10, the band will team up with Vains of Jenna, RATT and Poison for a special show in Salinas, California). "Vendetta" features big guitar solos, a sing-a-long chorus and punchy lyrics.

A completely different sound is "Black N' Blue." Here, the band uses a blues-based sound and incorporates Aerosmith-standards like harmonica and fast drum fills. It's a nice change at the mid-point of Take It Sleezy.

Another strong point of Take It Sleezy is "Sleeze Disease." Here, the lyrics tell a coherent story, and the vocals are not buried by electric guitar. The boys also include an acoustic version of this track on the album. The electric version features a strong bass line and a nice drum part.
- www.bringbackglam.com

8.5/10
If you’re one of those music fans who doesn’t surf the band pages on MySpace.com regularly or perhaps doesn’t even have a MySpace page, you might not have noticed that “Glam/Sleaze Rock” is trying to make a strong comeback. Plenty of indicators have their needles floating in the red that would predict this is the case. An overwhelming amount of bands denote “Glam” and/or “Sleaze” as their musical genre on their band pages on MySpace.com; Perris Records has several Glam Rock releases currently in the works, the 272 Records label has released Glamnation Vol. 1 (a Metal Express Radio review is forthcoming) with no less than twenty-three bands represented on it! A fair amount of these young upstarts are from the country of Sweden. One, strangely enough, is coming out of the state of California (USA), the very state that was home to a massive slew of 80’s “Hair Metal” bands. If Dirty Penny plays their cards right, they could be at the forefront of this Glam Revolution if the quality of their debut release, Take It Sleezy, is any indication.

Perusing the Take It Sleezy cover will definitely inspire thoughts of Mötley Crüe, minus the leather, and in fact that’s not a completely far-fetched comparison. On Take It Sleezy, Dirty Penny offers up twelve tracks of straight-ahead, basic but fun as Hell, “Shout-riffic, Party Rock!" These boys know how to have fun! Just check out their MySpace.com site name for a hint of their comical nature!

It will be fairly obvious from the opening cowbell sound that their musicianship, while confident, tight and professional, won’t win any “complexity awards,” but with fun-filled tracks like “Midnight Ride,” “Runnin’ Wild,” “Scream & Shout,” and “Vendetta” that inspire the type of aura typically only associated with classic releases like Too Fast For Love, who cares? Singer “Binge Daniels,” whose “name” instills memories of riding the “porcelain bus” after a night full of J.D., sounds confident, a bit like a whinier Vince Neil and seems poised to take on the world. Production, handled by Melodic Rock singer/producer/engineer Johnny Lima, shines in it’s own right. Lima was also involved in some of the songwriting, which perhaps accounts for some of the release’s commercial appeal.

With twelve tracks onboard, there truly isn’t an awful one amongst the bunch. The weakest track is “Black N’ Blue,” which incorporates a little Blues and harmonica into the mix. The track is commendable, but it just doesn’t mesh with the attitude that the remaining songs exude. The band has also refrained from including any typical “ballads,” with the only exception being the acoustic version of “Sleeze Disease,” which is a follow-up to the plugged-in version appearing earlier on this disc. The acoustic version is the last track on the disc, so it can easily be overlooked, but it does in fact come across in a very appealing manner.

Bottom line, it’s nice to come across a release that doesn’t require a musical P.H.D. to listen to and one that provides a lot of entertainment in the form of “F-U-N.” With a successful Rocklahoma 2007 appearance already in the bag, Dirty Penny is destined for bigger and better things, if they can distance themselves from the Mötley Crüe sound and image. Definitely the best Glam/Sleaze release of 2007, especially for an Independent contender! Do yourself a favor and head over to their MySpace sight and grab a copy of this before they are all out! - by: SCOTT JESLIS/ Metal Express radio

The best Indy of the year? That was easy (to choose). For me there was nothing to touch the Dirty Penny "Take it Sleezy" album.

The riffs come thick and fast, the choruses are huge, anthemic affairs and the songs are some of the best I've heard for a long while.......Alongside the likes of Crashdiet, Vains of Jenna and Hollywood, Dirty Penny are gonna be riding the Glam-rock revolution. Get ready to be swept away. - Powerplay Magazine, issue 92

#39. Dirty Penny, "Take it Sleezy"

Killer riffs, top-notch vocals and Leppard-style harmonies put these young US sleazers head and shoulders above the rest. If you want to gluttonously slather yourself in sex-fueled, rock-solid glam metal, this is very much for you. - Classic Rock Magazine