FLIPP
Volume

It was inevitable that the resurrection of rowdy rock brought on by the likes of The Strokes, The Hives and The White Stripes would uncover a new Kiss. Yet the modernistic glam-rock band Flipp figures to be more than a 21st century Kiss - the foursome is also a new Cheap Trick, AC/DC and Alice Cooper.

Storming along with a combination of guts and thievery, Flipp bulldozes through a "Volume" that is so familiar it sounds like an album of enthusiastic cover songs. Listeners will even find themselves singing along during their first go-round with anthem-like cuts including "Whole World's Sick," "Freak" and "Oh Yeah."

The cartoonishly styled guitarist/lead singer Brynn Arens, instrumentalist Chia Karaoke, bass player Freaky Useless and drummer Kilo Bale may not look recognizable, but their sound dovetails with the cliched classic rock rotation. ... The group even stumbles into the obligatory rock 'n' roll quagmire of self-indulgence with the sluggish bluster of "Zoom."

What's more, Flipp churns forward from the 1970s through punky mayhem ("La De Da") and Beastie-Boys-ish rock ("Hairdo") while periodically channeling amped-up Everclear, whose frontman Art Alexakis co-produced "Volume" with Arens. (Alexakis also appears on the album.)

Generations X and Y need more raw bands like Flipp so they can hear such bawdy disorder without having to witness the frightening spectacle of an aging band that should have gotten off the stage a long time ago.

Meanwhile, most middle-age rockers will have to acknowledge at least grudging admiration for the flattering mimicry mustered by these Flipp hoodlums.

3.5 out of 5 stars