Album review: The Villains, 'Just Another Saturday Night'

Published: Thursday, September 02, 2010, 6:30 AM

 Lawrence F. Specker, Press-Register 
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Just Another Saturday Night 
The Villains 
Rock Ridge 


Working one’s way through the Villains’ “Just Another Saturday Night” is a pleasant experience, but also a little bit puzzling. 

The Atlanta-based band, made up of veteran studio musicians and sidemen, has two voices — and two visions, it seems at times. The one that opens the album, on “Let’s Forget About it Tonight,” is straight-ahead heartland rock and roll. The other, heard on tunes such as “Party’s Over,” is distinctly country, albeit country heavily tinged with Southern rock.

The standout track is “Going Deaf For a Living,” one of the rockers. Rock singers singing about being rock singers isn’t always a compelling subject, but writer Dan Call puts a fresh spin on it, capturing both the weariness of the road and the addiction to the music.

Overall, the album gives the impression of a band akin to the Eagles. The Villains just aren’t as good (yet) as that group at fusing its disparate halves into a truly distinctive whole. A concluding cover of the Pure Prairie League’s “Amie” reinforces that sense of where the members’ heads are really at.

In promotional copy, the band claims to make music “that will remind you of a time when FM radio play helped break bands and arena tours helped to develop those acts.”

It’s not the most original vision, but for some listeners it’ll be a very welcome throwback.