Unsung guitar hero JK Northrup — he toured with Billy "Children of the Sun" Thorpe — has rounded up a few of his equally unsung singing buddies and made a rock record of distinction. Never mind the sci-fi cover art; Wired In My Skin is full of made-in-America hard-rock music, brimming with pride and swagger but never hubris.
It's great to hear Johnny Edwards (Lou Gramm's one-time replacement in Foreigner, with whom I once enjoyed a beer at the Holiday Inn in Stevens Point, Wis.) singing with gusto again on the title track, Kelly Keeling's "Big Blue Sky" is a standout track, and XYZ's Terry Ilous contributes two ballads, "The Road" and "So Long." Former Danger Danger vocalist Ted Poley sings the weakest track, "Perfect Imperfection," but David Zaragoza (who?) injects "Cemented Eyes" with a convincingly gritty vocal performance. I'm not sure what the deal is with the tender acoustic closing ballad "If I Were James Taylor (I Could Finish This Song)" — it stands out awkwardly in this collection — but it reveals another side of Northrup's songwriting and Poley's lyrical approach. Meanwhile, Northrup's three well-placed instrumentals resonate with depth, and they balance the other songs. His playing comes off sounding slick but not pretentious, technical but not mind-numbing.
In the end, this 40-minute CD goes by way too fast.
Track Listing:
1) Black Moon (Instrumental)
2) Wired in My Skin
3) Big Blue Sky
4) The Road
5) Perfect Imperfection
6) Mark My Territory (Instrumental)
7) Cemented Eyes
8) So Long
9) Metamorphosis (Instrumental)
10) Grind Me Down
11) If I Were James Taylor (I Could Finish This Song)
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