Not sure where they got the awful name from, but Dirty Shirley is the new project put together by Croatian vocal talent Dino Jelusic and legendary Lynch Mob/ex-Dokken guitar virtuoso George Lynch, along with bassist Trevor Roxx and drummer Will Hunt. Their self-titled debut has just been released on Frontiers Records (of course!) and contains 11 tracks of fiery, bluesy, melodic hard & heavy rock music.
Jelusic is a name that's on the tongues of a lot of people these days, the singer sporting a voice that's not unlike Norwegian kingpin Jorne Lande, both of whom have a commanding, bluesy swagger with plenty of heavy metal credibility, influences from Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers, and other greats of the '70s emanating from their lungs. Though it's been hard to keep up with Lynch these days (he has Lynch Mob, KXM, Sweet & Lynch, Ultraphonix, The End Machine, and now Dirty Shirley all seemingly happening simultaneously) you can generally expect solid results, and Dirty Shirley is no exception. The impression you get though is that this album is more meant to showcase the talents of Jelusic, who comes across as a complete powerhouse, more than a showcase for Lynch's guitar pyrotechnics. "Here Comes the King" is a kick-ass opener, a potent Rainbow/Dio/Whitesnake styled heavy rocker complete with snarling vocals and crunchy riffing, while "Dirty Blues" and "I Disappear" are more blues-based numbers that see a more restrained Lynch, though he does drop in a sizzling solo on the latter. Other highlights here include the gutsy blues-rock of "Last Man Standing", the mid-paced moody rocker "The Voice of a Soul", the groove-laden "Cold", and the savage, scorching heavy rock 'n' funk of "Higher".
Overall, some very solid material here on the Dirty Shirley debut, but I'm finding a handful of the tracks somewhat generic sounding. What's good is really good, the rest, kinda ordinary, though Dino's vocals stand out every step of the way. Perhaps this one will be a bit of a grower, but right now classify this as a very solid debut but not quite hitting that 'essential' button.
Track Listing
01 Here Comes The King 6:44
02 Dirty Blues 3:34
03 I Disappear 6:58
04 The Dying 4:00
05 Last Man Standing 4:16
06 Siren Song 4:05
07 The Voice Of A Soul 7:09
08 Cold 5:17
09 Escalator 5:05
10 Higher 5:28
11 Grand Master 3:59
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