CD Review of Rocky Na$h and Video extras needed! - By N.L. Belardes

Rocky Na$h, the brash Bakersfield DJ who isn’t afraid of a little potty talk and fun also fronts a band with the same name. If you haven’t heard, the music is hard rocking with extremely strong guitars and angry vocals throughout. Dare I mention KISS? Dare I mention Def Leppard? Dare I mention a little Joan Jett? Dare I mention a little old school metal? This is classic American hard rock with bandanas, jeans, a little bit of leather, and definitely a lot of sexy rock vixen attitude. The songs were recorded with Rocky backed by two musicians: drummer/guitarist Preston Nash and guitarist Chad Heimbach. Both musicians compliment each other's many intricate guitar-driven layers, and make up the classic rocking sounds of Rocky Na$h. Who played bass? Good question... but let's get to the music...

The first song, Nailed Again is an angry tribute to the pain of jealousy and lost love and how we’re all capable of being a little self-destructive along the way. “Leaning on a bottle of gin… I see myself in the glass… drowning in a moment of fun… jealous of the other ones…” N.L. tips a glass of lemonade to this song... OK, a watered down beer. You all know I’m a light drinker…

The fastest song on the self-titled CD, Blame Me shows off Preston Nash as a multi-talented musician and engineer with precision drumming skills and guitar riffs that just shake you with energy… “Why the hell can you see through me? I’m the friend and not the foe…hungry hands come back again to taste my lip and knock me down.” Oh man, is this a song about needing to stand up to the pain of the world knocking you down again and again? Rocky will have to elaborate. But I can agree with the interpretation and perspective I funneled from this fast-moving, guitar ripping American Classic style song.

“Step right up to my lead balloon!” sings Rocky who beckons for you to come to her arms… “because no one cares about you…” Do we all feel this way at times, that who we need are those who feel our pain? But be careful because you might sink just a little further with a lead balloon. But don’t worry, it will rise… Chad’s guitar sounds are a driving hum mimicking the machinery of our everyday lives in a factorywork of riffs. I love the layers of sound that builds this song into a dark metal groan of Rocky’s angry attitude.

Turn Me Out is straight up rock and roll with a lyrical theme about folks leading each other on… and turning each other down. For what reason? Just because it’s what people do when one terrible person consumes another “You drain me just to free me… turn me out…” The strength of Turn Me Out is that once it really gets pushing it’s used as a strong transition into a very passionate rock ballad intro…

April Cries verges on the point of rock opera with its full-layered sounds and rich guitar-driven melody, primarily driven by Preston Nash. The guitars drone from a moan to a wail while Rocky sings in her vibrant angry voice… I can imagine a really cool animated piece to such music… stretch this song to 25 minutes with transitions galore and it’s a really fascinating rock opera out of the heart of Bakersfield… “Hold tight as April Cries…”

I really like the harmonies on Stars, which speeds the CD back up until a bridge comes along that slows the whole song down into some nice singing between Rocky and Preston. Stars does a great job of building momentum as Rocky declares, “This is what I am! This is how it goes… stars shine on those who stand alone…” I can appreciate such lines.

Daisies from Glistening has my favorite guitar work of the CD. Acoustic melodies performed by both Chad Heimbach and Preston Nash are strung along to the soft rattle of drums and Rocky singing this love ballad, “Everyday I will give you ways to fall in love with me again…everywhere I go there’s a heart full of you…” I can just see her on stage in bright lights, with darkness around and her singing to a host of cell phone lights shimmering…

I was at Reggae Fest when Rocky Nash belted into a cover of Silent All These Years by Tori Amos. The only mistake was asking the crowd if there were any Tori Amos fans. The crowd didn’t know what to think until Rocky rocked the house with a fiery rendition of what is an already angry song. The CD recording is really fired up and I listened to it in a car several times while driving around to get its full near road rage effect. Don’t worry, I didn’t drive over any little old ladies while listening to Rocky scream “Siilent all these years.” She is definitely feeling her own bond with a song very much about her own life. On one level this CD is about her coming out and not being musically silent. It’s not just a marketing technique but a richly sung song that ends the self-titled CD with angry triumphant thoughts and sounds about being an artist on the road to success…

And extras are needed! Go to JR's site for a note from Preston and Rocky about an upcoming music video on June 25th being filmed at Vinny's Bar on South Union...

This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Thursday, June 16, 2005. You can leave your response.